{"id":22932,"date":"2014-10-06T00:00:34","date_gmt":"2014-10-06T00:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=22932"},"modified":"2015-01-07T08:35:45","modified_gmt":"2015-01-07T08:35:45","slug":"album-review-chainfist-scarred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-chainfist-scarred\/","title":{"rendered":"CHAINFIST – Scarred (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHAINFIST
Scarred<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nMighty Music (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, I never caught up with Chainfist\u2019s 2010 debut offering Black Sunday<\/em>, but all good things come to those who wait I guess, and I\u2019m pleased to say that the sophomore effort from this Danish quintet is one that many shall enjoy.<\/p>\n

So, if \u2013 like me \u2013 you\u2019re new to these guys, then it\u2019s worth mentioning that they formed in 2007 and the current line-up consists of Jackie Petersen (vocals), Michael Kopietz (guitar), Thomas Hvisel (guitar), Braca Pedersen (bass) and Jesper Heidelbach (drums).<\/p>\n

This new outing sees the band enlist the mixing talents of one Jacob Hansen, who is known for mastering the works of Pretty Maids and Primal Fear among others. According to the press release for this record, Hansen wanted to find a sound for the band that enabled the heavy riffs to shine, and yet not exist as too polished and for the vocals to appear smooth, with a mainstream and yet very metallic effect. Hansen has most certainly achieved that goal because every instrument here is its own boss, ruling its own personal wasteland to create an immense structure of sound with the overall result being something akin to a mid-career Metallica, but bereft of the ego.<\/p>\n

One only has to look at a track such as \u201810,000\u2019 to hear the Metallica influence, whether in the trudging riffage or Petersen\u2019s James Hetfield-styled vocal sneer. It\u2019s certainly not a thrashing sound, but a mid-tempo range that Metallica moved into during the late 90s. However, for Chainfist the sound sits more comfortable, hinting at a mainstream stomp and yet remaining true with its weight.<\/p>\n

Okay, so the more you listen to it the more the Metallica comparisons grow, but these guys have some excellent moments of melody too and have the ability to mix those chunkier, and sporadically faster segments with some real, slow, slamming passages. This becomes immediately apparent with the hastier slug of \u2018Scars Of Time\u2019, the bruising \u2018Seven Minutes Of Pain\u2019 and the brooding \u2018Mass Frustration\u2019. However, Chainfist knows how to throw in that air of the mainstream too, giving a softer Metallica a run for its money with \u2018Another Day In Hell\u2019, although \u2018Poison Moon\u2019 quite literally throws in every shade, speed and tempo.<\/p>\n

My only gripe about Scarred<\/em> is that it\u2019s a pretty much no frills affair, reminding one of countless just-above-thrash acts which emerged during the late 80s. Chainfist do seem to have enough in the locker to enable them to rise above mediocrity, but I\u2019ve no doubt that the Metallica comparisons will come thick and fast. That is not necessarily bad thing though, especially when you consider that Metallica haven\u2019t written a truly great record since the 80s, and so Chainfist\u2019s sophomore opus could well fill that gap, even if it\u2019s the sort of sound you heard decades before.<\/p>\n

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

CHAINFISTScarred Mighty Music (2014)Rating: 7\/10 Unfortunately, I never caught up with Chainfist\u2019s 2010 debut offering Black Sunday, but all good things come to those who wait I guess, and I\u2019m pleased to say that the sophomore effort from this Danish quintet is one that many shall enjoy. So, if \u2013 like me \u2013 you\u2019re new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1565],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-chainfist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22932","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=22932"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22936,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22932\/revisions\/22936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}