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Point Of No Return - Hierophant-Nox (UK) |
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Tuesday, 31 March 2009 |
Death-thrashers Izegrim hail from the Netherlands, and have released "Point of No Return" as a forceful, relentless taster of their current direction, redefined after some line-up changes and a period of musical introspection since the release of "Tribute to Totalitarianism" in March 2008. Their sound, at once pummelling and melodic, is greatly aided by a solid production that leaves the band sound professional and confident, whilst the overall package, whilst not as beautiful as "TtT", combines a coherent concept with striking imagery.
Although this EP has not been available for too long, it hasn’t taken some critics much time to sharpen their knives. A common complaint is that Izegrim are not original enough; while the band’s mixture of aggressive, melodic, modern death metal rhythm guitars and flourishing, classic thrash solos isn’t exactly the avant-garde, I’d be more willing to let this critique ride if Izegrim’s musicianship wasn’t up to scratch. This simply isn’t the case, particularly in the guitar work; the melo-death rhythm of "No Place Like Home" may be familiar, but it’s beautifully executed, whilst the leads and solos of "End of Time" are comfortably classy. This quality should be taken into account against Izegrim’s earlier releases, which, whilst solid enough, did not have the smooth, full, fearless sound that Jeroen and Bart create now.
Female vocalists with a fearsome growl and a skin-ripping shriek often throw the metal scene and its members retreat to the easy categorisations. The fact that Izegrim do step on the melodic-aggressive Swedish side with their riffs summons an inevitable comparison when bass-valkyrie Marloes unleashes her roar. With her impressive range and power, however, I think she will end up out-running her more derivative peers, and it must be mentioned that her move to the front of the stage has definitely benefited the band, whose overall sound now has more gravity, edge and seriousness than on previous recordings.
The re-recording of "Angel of Demise", with its militaristic muscle and building guitar break, hints at a more progressive edge to Izegrim, which they surely have the technical abilities to fully exploit on their next full-length. For now, "Point of No Return" has been a success in proving that their sound is now more gutsy, more competent, and just as capable of carrying a concept as earlier works. If we are all a little accustomed to the style of these songs, we should instead focus on the skill of their component parts, and allow ourselves a little excitement about the variations and power a full-length could bring.
70/100
Ellen Simpson
hierophant-nox.com
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