ARTIST: Thread Of Omen
ALBUM NAME: Vindicta
RELEASE DATE: 17 February 2017
COUNTRY: South Africa
CITY: Cape Town
GENRE – Melodic Death Metal
MEMBERS:
Victor van den Heever – Vocals
Stian Etsebeth – Lead Guitar
Calla Hamman – Rhythm Guitar
Matthew Cox – Bass Guitar
Jonathan Burgers – Drums
In the realm of heavy metal, a band wearing their influences on their collective sleeves will either be criticized for a lack of originality or lauded for utilizing such inspiration to craft something truly their own. In this reviewer’s humble opinion, Thread of Omen have successfully achieved the latter. One could be forgiven for recognizing elements of Gojira, The Black Dahlia Murder and Lamb of God’s styles in this outfit from Cape Town, and justifiably so. Vindicta (their second album since 2015’s Palace of the Fathers) expands upon their technical and ferocious death/melodic metal approach, progressing from a rawer and thrashier sound into a more modern metal realm with a pinch of neo-classical elements added for good measure. Effortlessly and sometimes unexpectedly flowing from blasting onslaughts of frenetic riffage to crushing grooves and breakdowns, their songs have evolved from predictable verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge structures to an entirely more creative and thought-out approach.
The production on Vindicta is crisp, concise and unrelentingly brutal, leading to a mix that could confidently stand as an equal amongst other albums in the genre. However, I must say Victor’s vocals could be a little louder and clearer overall, but that’s just my opinion. Lyrically, themes of discontent with the materialistic and sheep-like nature of society (“…you fool yourself with your dynamic conformity and the new ethic of copy and clone…” – Glory of What?) and disgust at what the human race has done to both the planet and itself run rampant, yet there is still a feeling of self-empowerment throughout. Aspects of mythology can be found peppered throughout this work, but one cannot help but feel like this album is coming from a more personal perspective than their previous offering. Stand-out tracks include the swaggering thump of Oerbeeldsgebed and throat-grabbing intensity of Life or Coin.
I give this album a solid 8/10, and highly recommend that you get hold of it (legally please, musicians need to eat too) and check these guys out at a show, as their live performances are no less compromising than their studio work. Overall, it is most gratifying to see how Thread of Omen have challenged themselves musically to grow in leaps and bounds since 2015, and they will definitely be one of the top groups to watch in the growth of the South African metal scene, as Vindicta so vehemently demonstrates.
Reviewed by: Ian Gertenbach (more from Ian)
Shots Fired by: Iggy
Date: 2 February 2016
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