Thrall

"Vermin to the Earth" is the brand new full-length by Tasmanian Demon who answers by the name of Thrall. Last year's Thrall debut "Away from the Haunts of Men" was quite a welcome and a quite good essay of sorrow and darkness. "Vermin to the Earth" looks remarkably similar to its predecessor, so there is no shock that the band are treading familiar territory, striving only for an aesthetic consistency. "Vermin to the Earth" returns to the formula of faster, blasted passages and slower, rocking rhythms redolent of influences like Darkthrone, Burzum and Bathory, but this is all wrought in a clean, shadowy package that feels constantly like a sun setting across a barren desert. About half the tracks feel functional but average, with firm textures of desolation but no real standout riffs; whereas the other half have something more to offer. "Oblivion" is a good example of one of the album's more potent pieces, with slowly churning black/rock rhythms slathered in echoing rasps, but a few jarring twists to the guitar that keep the listener on the edge of his/her seat. In fact, the later half of the album seems to focus more on slower music adorned in crisp, ringing guitars, but measured blast beats are often thrown in to prevent a gray monotony from setting in. "Vermin to the Earth" progresses with subdued force and focuses much more on conjuring atmosphere and emotive response... Thrall are proof that the orthodox canon of Black Metal is very much alive.

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