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(7/10) Normally I'm not the biggest fan of metalcore. There are highlights in the genre like e.g. Heaven Shall Burn. But in general I think that the music is sometimes too one dimensional (probabaly I messed it up now with all metalcore fans).
Wild Zombie Blast Guide is different, since the quintett from Wuerzburg, Germany (by the way: Wzbg is a nice playing with letters & words) combines different styles. This becomes understandable since the band consists out of members The New Black, Saltatio Mortis and ex-Cataract.
So I was curious what to expect when I got the album from Wild Zombie Blast Guide on my desk. Actually it sounds pretty good. The band mixes thrash metal with metalcore elements and some blast beat sections. I would name it thrashcore. The result are songs like the opener "Salute to the commander". The opener has some thrash metal soli, some metalcore shouting, but also a very cool grooving chorus. Wild Zombie Blast Guide isn't afraid to also include keyboards into their sound. They do this without losing the power. "Thrash it or trash it" is a good example for this. Keyboards kick-off the song, the guitar takes over and all that results in a melodic bridge with a real thrash chorus. The keys are coming back in "You've died before". The songs actually remind me a bit to In Flames.
"Damnation" adds another element to the range of Wild Zombie Blast Guide. The songs starts with a sample which also comes back during the song. The track itself is more grooving mid-pace based but has breaks, which helps to keep the tension in the song. All in all I can say that the album covers many different aspects and stays interesting from the first to the last song. To broaden the spectrum even more "Birds of prey" reminds even a bit to hardcore, esp. the guitar riff in the beginning.
All this variations still fit into a bigger picture and doesn' feel actifically combined.
"Salute to the commander" became an interesting record with some cool songs. Give it a try.
(7/10)
Tacklist:
- Salute the commander
- This is hell
- Under toxic skies
- Thrash it or trash it
- Mission complete
- Damnation
- Birds of prey
- End of prey
- End of your rope
- You've died before
- UTZA
- End of your rope (Funky horns mix)
Label: WZBG Records
Genre: Thrash Core
