Friday, May 18, 2012

Scarlet Anger - Dark Reign (2012)


Scarlet Anger is a thrash metal band from Luxemburg and has recently released their new full length album, entitled "Dark Reign." They display a mean set of kick and snare patterns along with wild solos and explosive guitar riffs. The album starts out strong with the first few opening tracks but slowly sinks itself into a specific sound as you'll start to notice some of the tracks start to sound alike.

Violent cymbals splash heavily in the opening of "New God Rising." Distorted guitars quickly fill the air as monstrous bass lines fade into the background. The vocals contain harsh clean vocals full of energy and rage. The guitars switch up constantly with different chugging patterns along with melodic riffs. The drums stay relentless throughout the track with quick bursts of double bass pedal drumming and rumbling toms that lead you right into a sharp crash. You'll also come across a wicked guitar solo towards the end of the track that'll leave you stunned. Wild guitar notes hit you from every direction as you fall to the ground. "My Battlefield" picks the tempo right back up with more melodic chugging guitars and sizzling cymbals high in the background. The fills are detailed and full of complex patterns. The verses cut right into you with aggressive shouting and echoing lyrics. The build up in the kicks will have you bobbing your head in no time.

"Game Over" is another beast of a track that drowns you in distortion. The drum rolls carry a galloping tone to its kick snare combos. It'll definitely put you in the mood to mosh. You'll also notice the interesting layering of vocals. The harsh shouting vocals are mixed with devilish growls in certain parts of the song. It adds a haunting sound to the mix. "Follow The Order" will have you flinching with it's screechy guitar riffs and punishing snare work. Each roll will lead you right into another deadly crash. The double bass pedals are thrown at you with machine gun speeds. This will definitely get your blood pumping.

After a while, you'll notice a lot of the tracks start to blend together. "A Tale Of Hate" and "Prince Of the Night" sound similar to some of the earlier tracks that you've already heard on the album. A lot of the guitar riffs fall in the same chord and chugging pattern. They don't really separate themselves from the other tracks. Even "My Empire Coming Down" just starts to sound like generic thrash metal. At this point if i want to hear something vicious ill just jump over to a Slayer album.

Overall "Dark Reign" starts out with a bang but slowly falls to a repetitive state. The songs start to mash together and sound similar to one another. Scarlet Anger has a lot of potential but they need to work on some of their song writing techniques. After a while it seems like the creative process kind of just fell off. The drums are however excellent throughout the entire album. The fills will have you're jaw hitting the floor the whole time. If anything I would say to listen to the first four or five tracks and get a feel for the album. If you wanna hear more of the same riffs and style then continue with the rest of the album.

6/10

Official Site - http://scarletanger.com/
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/scarletanger

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