{"id":15102,"date":"2013-09-28T00:00:39","date_gmt":"2013-09-28T00:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=15102"},"modified":"2013-11-12T19:50:00","modified_gmt":"2013-11-12T19:50:00","slug":"album-review-scarecrow-nwa-transgression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-scarecrow-nwa-transgression\/","title":{"rendered":"SCARECROW N.W.A – Transgression (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCARECROW N.W.A.
Transgression<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNoisehead (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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These Austrian metalheads do have one of the most convoluted names, with the N.W.A. abbreviation standing for New World Annihilation. Thankfully, the album title is a lot more concise, thus being the fifth release from this quintet who formed back in the mid 90s. It\u2019s been some four years since 2009\u2019s Ishmael<\/em> platter and because of the long wait Scarecrow N.W.A. have rewarded us with some 60 minutes of music on Transgression<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The band have been through several line-up changes \u2013 even while recording this nine-track affair \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t seem to have effected them too much. The band is still fronted by Bernd Krumb\u00f6ck who is now backed by guitarists Alex Dunkl and newcomer Gsputi, while Stef Kelz takes up the drum duties with Ohlsen on bass.<\/p>\n

So, with introductions now out of the way let\u2019s talk about the music. <\/p>\n

Well, Scarecrow N.W.A. have quite a formidable sound, muscular in its guitars and clinical in its drumming, and can best be described as a blackened style of death metal but with big lumps of melody. This is nowhere more evident than with the opening \u2018MMXII\u2019 which is not overly punishing but offers progressive melody over the gurgled black \/ death metal hybridisation of the vocals. My only issue is that the drums sound a little clicky in the mix and rarely seem to add any real weight to proceedings. However, when the combo opt for a colder dynamic \u2013 such as on the title track \u2013 the drums seem better suited, but again they seem a touch lost in the mix. Although the guitars are always twisted and complex.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Scarecrow N.W.A. used to employ keyboards, but Transgression<\/em> benefits without such meddling, meaning that the sound is more direct and a tad more discoloured, yet quite engrossing. Again, the title track is key here, mixing melody with some excellent gurgled vocals. I believe that Bernd Krumb\u00f6ck should stick to such guttural spits rather than choosing to slip into a black metal rasp, because the deeper tones give the record a weightier edge. <\/p>\n

\u2018Self-Enslavement\u2019 is typical of the Scarecrow N.W.A. sound, but the melody is too defined here \u2013 if that\u2019s at all possible \u2013 meaning that the vocals don\u2019t really work alongside the weaker guitar and drum sound. The messages of disdain and hate are still potent on tracks such as \u2018Technology Of Death\u2019 and the galloping complexity of \u2018At Dead Of Night\u2019. However, the latter once again takes on more sinister airs when the pace slows to a gritty, grey chug.<\/p>\n

I like this album a lot and feel that these Austrians have finally, after several albums, found their real sound. After all, it\u2019s not easy combining accessibility with more extreme genres of music, but give this a few spins and it will really grow on you. I\u2019d still like to hear more depth to the drums and weight to the bass, but overall Transgression<\/em> is still a spiteful listen that should leave its mark on the flesh.<\/p>\n

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

SCARECROW N.W.A.Transgression Noisehead (2013)Rating: 7\/10 These Austrian metalheads do have one of the most convoluted names, with the N.W.A. abbreviation standing for New World Annihilation. Thankfully, the album title is a lot more concise, thus being the fifth release from this quintet who formed back in the mid 90s. It\u2019s been some four years since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,802],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-scarecrow-n-w-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15102","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=15102"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15106,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15102\/revisions\/15106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}