{"id":14596,"date":"2013-09-11T00:00:54","date_gmt":"2013-09-11T00:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=14596"},"modified":"2014-06-10T15:12:25","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T15:12:25","slug":"album-review-scythe-subterranean-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-scythe-subterranean-steel\/","title":{"rendered":"SCYTHE – Subterranean Steel (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCYTHE
Subterranean Steel<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nPrimitive Reaction (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Although there may be at least ten or more bands going under the moniker of Scythe, take note of these Chicago, Illinois-based blackened thrashers as they are the pet project of Usurper guitarist Rick Scythe. The three-piece \u2013 including bassist Dan Geist and drummer Joey Contreras \u2013 have been around since 2011, releasing their sneering Beware The Scythe<\/em> debut in 2012. It\u2019s good to see they\u2019ve continued on their left hand path by releasing this nine-tracker soon after. <\/p>\n

Although a lot of bands are attempting to recreate that old school extreme metal sound, Scythe \u2013 despite still opting for that regressive approach \u2013 have also injected their product with a hint of blackened rock \u2019n\u2019 roll while keeping the strongest flavours as a dose of old thrash and speedy black metal.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not of the opinion that Scythe is original, but their meaty sound incorporates a number of known qualities, ranging from Swedish death metal and classic metal. With a sprig of occult dabbling, Subterranean Steel<\/em> makes for quite a wholesome listen, especially with those chunky riffs and deathly snarls from Rick Scythe. <\/p>\n

I did expect a little more from this record I must admit, but I enjoy the shifts in pace, particularly with tracks such as \u2018Monarch\u2019, and the sinister sludge of the title track with its doomy drums and scornful riffing. Maybe that rather crisp guitar tone, however, is the sole reason I\u2019m not feeling as much of the underground as I would have liked. Even so, the title track is a real monster; probably the heaviest track on the record, it offers some great gothic undertones and then a quick change of pace.<\/p>\n

Scythe is a hard band to pin down, especially with a track such as \u2018October Dies\u2019, which features a killer, although recognisable riff, but Rick\u2019s vocals here work nicely as they drift between a more guttural growl and that usual decrepit grimace. The hilariously titled \u2018The Grunting Dead\u2019 is an all-out thrash assault, and the band effortlessly channel that old school black metal style but with bombastic overtones. <\/p>\n

Despite its varying shifts in extreme metal styles, Scythe\u2019s second record quickly fades from my attention, probably due to the fact that it relies heavily on simply punishing the listener with its mighty slabs. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that of course, but when you hear a track such as \u2018The Bray Beast\u2019 one may find themselves rather bored. And when the band do begin to combine those old school values with speedier moments, like on \u2018Nights Of Terror\u2019 and the creeping \u2018Thunder Hammer\u2019, it seems a little too late to save Subterranean Steel<\/em> from being another rather turgid outing that has a bark worse than its bite. Hats off to Scythe for trying to create a sum of several parts, but this is nothing more than a case of ready, steady… and steady! <\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCYTHESubterranean Steel Primitive Reaction (2013)Rating: 6\/10 Although there may be at least ten or more bands going under the moniker of Scythe, take note of these Chicago, Illinois-based blackened thrashers as they are the pet project of Usurper guitarist Rick Scythe. The three-piece \u2013 including bassist Dan Geist and drummer Joey Contreras \u2013 have been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1224],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-scythe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14596"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18815,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14596\/revisions\/18815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}