Ravenous – We Are Become Death

I have to say I was surprised when I first heard this band. Ravenous were formed in 2008 in Southampton as a thrash/groove metal cover band and they’ve reached 2013 to release their first album “We Are Become Death” via a small independent label called Coffee Jingle Records. Musically they sound as a crossbreed of Metallica (of the “Black Album” era mostly on vocals), Machine Head and the masters of groove metal Pantera.

The album kicks in with “Abhor” at full speed then going back to mid tempo reminiscent of Machine Head and an amazingly catchy chorus and ending with an amazingly groovy riff, showing a frontman who is vocally somewhere between James Hetfield (Metallica) and Rob Flynn (Machine Head) and including some great solos. A strong drums/guitar intro leads us to “Reverse (Sympathy)” and a headbanging mid tempo riff in the vein of Pantera and some melodies reminding of Testament only to go into an amazing solo over Thrashier tempo that keeps on after the solo followed by an ending breakdown. Next we have the clean intro of “Suffocate” reminding us of “Master Of Puppets” – era Metallica and some Megadeth in the verses including a groovy chorus followed by another great solo.

“Deathstiny” starts with a drum intro strongly influenced by Machine Head and a trademark Pantera headbanging riff changing a bit in the chorus followed by a fast break over soloing a bit after the middle of the song. And then comes the song they made a videoclip for “Easter Island (We Are Become Death)” showing more Metallica influences with its amazing melodies and then the passionate chorus moving into a breakdown and after that a kick ass solo followed by a thrashy to mid tempo part to end the song. Definitely one of my favorite songs on the album clocking at nearly 7 minutes.

Next comes “Ravenous” with a great Slayeresque headbanging riff followed by another headbanging mid tempo riff leading to a powerful groovy chorus only to go on to another top notch solo then back to the main riff. “Alone” coming up next, starts as a ballad with a clean intro and a beautiful intro solo then into a powerful chorus reminding us of Metallica’s “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” in terms of song structure followed by a faster break and soloing. Next we have “The Architect” starting with mid tempo headbanging riffage moving into another great chorus followed by a kick ass long solo in the middle then back to that chorus for one more time. Another personal favorite of the record.

The album ends with “The Strawman” starting with another headbanging mid tempo riff and keeping like that till that break with an amazing riff after the second chorus followed by more groovy riffage without losing in intensity, including one final breakdown riff. Another plus for this record is that every song is over 5 minutes long yet it doesn’t lose in consistency or intensity which shows the great musicianship level of the band.

Ravenous came out of nowhere with a great album and are definitely here to stay. We’ll keep an eye on them and expect to see more from them in the future.