Blood Tsunami - For Faen!
After a few line-up and record label problems, Blood Tsunami have now signed to Indie Recordings, and finally return with their third album, For Faen. Since they come from Norway, you might expect them to be a death or black metal band – but no – this album is 80s thrash, mixed with punk and some more extreme elements.
Before going into details, let’s break something down. For Faen is not particularly original and you can hear clearly the influences of bands like Metallica and Slayer. You could almost make a game out of guessing the influences in each track. But at the same time, the energy and the personality of the band makes up for it.
When The Butcher Of Rostov starts, it’s like you’ve instantly jumped back in time; the production is just like that of the old days, where you couldn’t hear the bass drum – and when the guitars kick in, it’s 1985 all over again! This is a feeling that won’t leave you for the whole album. The record pounds ahead without any break – there’s no ballad or instrumental interludes here. It’s thrash with a punk attitude; very in-your-face, with some songs lasting less than two minutes. The vocals are halfway between Tom Araya’s “I can’t be bothered to sing so I’ll just talk in rhythm” attitude, and the angry declamations on Kreator‘s Cause For Conflict. For the rest, you have to look more into the extreme field, with some riffs and vocals that wouldn’t seem out of place on a death metal record, alongside a few blast beats from the drums. I guess that’s the Norwegian roots kicking in.
Alternating between very short pieces and regular structured songs, there is no time to get bored, even if there is a significant lull in the middle of the album. The band have tried to make sure the songs all have something new to offer, to make each track stand out from the one before. Whether it’s an intro, a change of rhythm, a solo, a melody or a breakdown, you hear something a little different every time.
Unfortunately, trying is not always enough and in the end, every song tends to use similar gimmicks. By the time you reach the middle of the album, you’ll be able to guess what part is coming next and how it will sound. The tracks seem to blur together after a while. A bit of air would have done this record some good, because it focuses only on the violent side of thrash. Middling tempos and changes of atmosphere have been completely removed, which is a real pity. When they take the time to slow it down properly (for instance, in the mid-sections of The Butcher or Krokodil) the groove is really nice and allows the track (and the listener) to breathe, making what follows even more enjoyable.
I have quite a mixed final impression of For Faen. It seems more like an actual 80s album that would have been forgotten somewhere in a recording studio and recently found rather than a brand new piece. Full of gimmicks and redundancies typical of second and third division thrash metal bands that should make it irrelevant and boring, but it is saved by its rawness and energy. Plus you can hear the musicians are enjoying themselves, which is not always the case on most of the over polished actual productions these days.
If you are willing to forget the year is 2013 and all the flaws mentioned before, you will enjoy half an hour of energetic thrash/punk that will make you smile and bang your head hard, you don’t want to ask more of this album, but on the bright side, you won’t get any less.
copas from http://metalmouth.net/2013/06/blood-tsunami-for-faen-2/
Tracklist:
01. Butcher of Rostov 04:11
02. Dogfed 01:32
03. The Rape of Nanking 01:58
04. The Dungeon of the Rats 03:17
05. Metal Fang 03:20
06. The Brazen Bull 04:44
07. Grave Desecrator 03:34
08. Unholy Nights 02:45
09. B.T.K. 01:38
10. Krokodil 04:06
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