For some time now, friends and acquaintances have been going on about
Dew-Scented, and, more recently, some have been getting into quite a frenzy about their upcoming new release
Incinerate. Obviously I’ve heard some of their past stuff but this has usually been when a soundman has played one of their CDs between bands at a gig; but I’ve usually been busy with cameras and recording equipment to pay proper attention. I do remember asking the soundman who he’s playing and thinking ‘I gotta get some of their stuff!’, however, I’ve never followed through these thoughts. So, what with all the hoo-ha that everyone is making about the imminent arrival of
Incinerate, I thought it was a spooky coincidence when said album arrived in a batch of CDs to review. My first thought was to get hold of some of their back catalogue for some comparative listening, as is my normal process. But I though, this time, I’ll try something a little different; review the album blind, on its own as a single unit, without the benefit of prior knowledge of their previous offerings. So with only ‘Official’ Interweb sites (
Nuclear Blast,
www.dew-scented.net and their
My Space Site to give me pertinent facts and info on the band, here we go:
First thing that surprised me was that, including their first Demo Tape in 1994,
Incinerate is
Dew-Scented’s ninth release. Next was that they are a Thrash band not Death like I had mistakenly assumed; don’t know where I got that notion from. One thing was definitely clear after the first spin though – I gotta see this band live! Adrenaline fuelled music such as this should come at you with thousands of watts of power driving it into your skull, not the piddly 20 my Hi-fi leaks out. Some of the live energy is there but you can’t get the flashing lights, the swaying crush of sweaty bodies, the elbow in the ear or foot in the mouth from crowd surfers and moshers or the bass-line trying to implode your lungs from a CD.
As with most Thrash bands that fire riffs at you at a bjillion miles an hour, it’s impossible to think back to what you’ve just listened to once the album has come to an end. It’s not that it’s unmemorable or easily forgettable, it’s just that your brain isn’t designed to soak up so much all at one time. The riffs from guitarists Flo Meuller and Hendrik Bache are a technically jaw-dropping shredfest that would stand up to anything created by the King / Hanneman partnership, and the solos that liberally pepper the album are lightning fast pieces of guitar widdly-wankery. Saying all that, you get the distinct feeling that the King / Hanneman partnership inspired many of the riffs that are trying to rip your face off. Uwe Werning’s drumming is totally awesome; his blastbeats are mind-blowing but it’s his kick patterns that just slay you! Sound magician Andy Sneap (Machine Head, Arch Enemy, Kreator, Killswitch Engage), in his wisdom has brought the kick drumming out to the front of the mix, creating a thunderous cacophony of sonic madness that drives everything along at such a killing pace. Keeping the beat throughout all the mayhem is a tough job for bassman Alexander Pahl but he manages to lay down a bone-jarring low end platform, keeping the beat tearing along. Vocalist Leif Jensen has one of those singing voices that comes across as being extremely forced which in turn makes it rather monotone in its delivery. However, unlike some other vocalists that sing like this, particularly some of those in the Metalcore genre, Leif’s singing doesn’t start to grate after the second song; which can only be a good thing.
Dew-Scented have invited some guests to join them on
Incinerate and you can really hear the difference the input these guests have made to the songs they appear on.
Annihilator’s Jeff waters and
Firewind’s Gus G guest guitar on
Perdition For All and
Kreator’s Mille Petrozza guest vocals on
Retain The Scars.
As a first time listener to
Dew-Scented I am kicking myself that I never listened to friends and acquaintances earlier. Now I’m going to have to make a hole in my bank balance acquiring their back catalogue.
Incinerate is an outstanding Thrash album that will be on my playlist for a long time to come. What we have here is not something that is re-inventing the wheel, but, if like me, you’ve never heard much of
Dew-Scented’s music, then
Incinerate is as good a place to rectify this oversight as any; it has all the ingredients required in a Thrash album in spades. There are no surprises to make you go “WTF were they trying to do there?” Without the benefit of hindsight from their previous creations I can’t say if
Dew-Scented have taken a step forward, back or sideways in their musical progression; nor can I say they are of the “Don’t fix what ain’t broke!” mindset. What I can say though is that as far as a thrash album goes,
Incinerate pushes all the right buttons for me.
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