Review: Vornth “Black Pyres”

Vornth “Black Pyres”
Iron Tyrant

Here we have very good example that also on so called West exist bands which’s existence isn’t easy. That’s truth that I didn’t find, unfortunately, it anywhere, but I can see after number of releases that life’s of our Swedish friends not a bed of roses. They were born in 200 and “Black Pyres” is their second full-length release three years after the first one entitled just “Vornth”. Besides that they released only a demo (“Die Hard” – 2006), EP “Darkness and Steel” (2009) and single (“Evil Blood” – 2013). Band participated also in tape compilation “Nidingsdåd… Och Andra Muntrationer” in 2013.

Their last stuff contains ten songs of classic Thrash Metal. Nut I’ll tell directly that even if it’s classic as hell it’s not as the most old-school Thrash Metal bands. Contrary to them it’s not like better or worse copy of very well-known Gods of, especially, German Thrash Metal. I have nothing against bands like that if they do what they do well, by the way! But guys complicit in VORTH create not so typical music. Well, there’re hearable of course strong influences of also German school of Thrash Metal, but it’s not playing in as self-evident way as it happens very often in case of other bands.

Music is in middle tempos and speed ups happen rather rarely. It doesn’t mean that we have here some ballads, far from it! That’s really good piece of Thrash Metal! So riffs are quick and sharp, drums beat mostly in the way in which it should beat in this kind of music – fast and uncompromising. In the same time I have impression that it’s more technical and riffs are more complicated than usually, they also change more often, I guess. From time to time, but rather rarely, we have something what we can call solo. Well, some parts (in “Stormtroopers” for example) connote for me me even a little more with Heavy Metal than typical Thrash. To be honest whole “Serpent Flames” is like that. I don’t want to say that it’s Heavy Metal song without any Thrash influences! It’s just something what unite both styles and do it in very good way! Erik’s Hartmann [I especially wrote also his second name coz in the band there’s another Erik, too – Kjönsberg (guit – anyway, Erik H. plays also guitar)] is also, or maybe even first of all, what makes VERNTH very interesting. Well, very often it remains me some Giant of Thrash Metal vocalizing whose initials are M. P., but not all the time.

Every Thrasher should get this stuff as fast as it’s only possible! I listen to it at least 27^th time and I can’t find any bad or weak sides here!