Horrendous
“The Chills”
2012
When first putting on the latest full-length album called The Chills by death metal band Horrendous, you will be forgiven for dismissing it as just another pointless metal album. At first, nothing about it stood out as clever or creative. Even though the first song, appropriately titled The Womb starts off with a slow, and emotionally heavy instrumental intro, once the song starts, it dissolves into very familiar territory. Other than being punctuated by some brilliant guitar leads, nothing stands out. The song Ripped To Shreds is standard death metal and brings nothing new. But just as I thought that this is just another death metal record made only for the mosh pit, the creative energy of this album started to unfold. Tricky riff heavy songs like The Somber start to take over and pull this record up to become something more that stock death metal. The only thing I feel that could benefit from an overhaul is the vocals. They are not bad, just not befitting of this band. Both Damian Herring and Matt Knox provide vocals. Those two should stick to their respective instruments and hire someone exclusively for vox. But as is right now it is not bad. It could be better though. Songs continued to get better and better the longer the album played. Creativity and anger shine forth from each song. And then there is the ten-minute opus titled The Eye of Madness. Death metal songs don’t get much better than this. The song is full of pain, changes, and deep emotion. At no point does it become boring. It is remarkably well constructed. The same could be said for the whole album. Horrendous has done well to stay within the limits of death metal to create this album and they have made a really great one. If you are a fan of death metal get this album. Give it a little time. Let it grow on you. Don’t write it off as mediocre, as it is anything but. This is death metal at its finest.
Tracklist:
1. The Womb
2. Ripped to Shreds
3. Altars
4. The Somber (Desolate Winds)
5. Fleshrot
6. The Ritual
7. Fatal Dreams
8. Sleep Sickness
9. The Eye of Madness
https://www.facebook.com/HorrendousDeathMetal
Members:
Jamie Knox – Drums
Damian Herring – Guitars/Vocals
Matt Knox – Guitars/Vocals
Rating: 9 out of 10
~Kris