{"id":52655,"date":"2017-02-24T00:01:30","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T00:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=52655"},"modified":"2017-03-12T23:45:32","modified_gmt":"2017-03-12T23:45:32","slug":"album-review-vendetta-the-5th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-vendetta-the-5th\/","title":{"rendered":"VENDETTA – The 5th (2017) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

VENDETTA
The 5th<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nMassacre (2017)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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I recall the day I first saw the cover for Vendetta\u2019s 1987 debut Go And Live… Stay And Die<\/em>, and I was hooked. It was a fantastic album cover, although one which tended to override the content within. There was no denying that the German thrashers were good, but musically they lacked the edge to compete with the likes of Sodom, Kreator and Destruction.<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s last opus \u2013 2011\u2019s Feed The Extermination<\/em> \u2013 was a big disappointment, so I\u2019m grateful that they\u2019ve hit back with a half-decent melodic thrash expression. The 5th<\/em> is very much the fifth opus by the band still led by original member Klaus \u201cHeiner\u201d Ullrich (bass).<\/p>\n

For me, the issue last time round was how watered down the band had become \u2013 especially in an age where there has been a major thrash metal resurgence, And so to compete, Feed The Extermination<\/em> fell well short. However, The 5th<\/em> is a far more edgier record, particularly in the no frills bark of vocalist Mario Vogel who it seems has finally settled in after the band\u2019s second mergence in 2000. He seems more comfortable alongside the trudging riffs of Frank Heller and newest member Michael \u201cOpf\u201d Opfermann, and so the result here with this new nine track affair is a solid, clean-cut although relatively harmless neat thrash workout.<\/p>\n

Opener \u2018Fragile\u2019 suggested to me that maybe the band was more comfortable as a mid-paced act \u2013 the track is concise, but rarely threatens. Thankfully, though, the pace picks up with \u2018Let \u2019er Rip\u2019; a full-on, cold steel thrash workout, even if there\u2019s a naivety in the lyrics, but this is more than made up for with the avalanche of percussion, bass and riffs. Personally, though, I\u2019d like to hear a snarlier vocal approach.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s some nice soloing exhibited throughout, although at times Vendetta still struggle to become more than just a second-rate Teutonic metal act. However, the band now seems fully aware of its past flaws and so bring us such bone-shakers as \u2018Deadly Sin\u2019 \u2013 a full-bloodied rumbler featuring Vogel\u2019s best vocal performance as he snarls his way in-between those deadly lines of bass and juggernaut guitars.<\/p>\n

\u2018Agency Of Liberty\u2019 builds slowly into a rather barbaric grumble. Again, the song suffers lyrically, but here is a posse clearly trying to cement its place and get back on track, and for that I hail them. Tracks such as the blistering \u2018The Prophecy\u2019 may at times feel generic German hammers that we much preferred decades ago, but it still makes for an entertaining listen.<\/p>\n

There are of course some sore points; \u2018Shame On You\u2019 just didn\u2019t seem to fit in with the other tracks, in spite of its heavy nature, and closer \u2018Nevermind\u2019 is a dire acoustic ballad which if anything leaves us begging for one more metallic charge to the finish line. One may also be left cringing with the funky intro to \u2018Religion Is A Killer\u2019, but buoyed by its eventual thrashing malice.<\/p>\n

Vendetta, however, is a band I\u2019ve come to expect flaws from \u2013 it\u2019s in their nature. But finally they seem to have got back on track with a solid record of no frills melodic thrash.<\/p>\n

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

VENDETTAThe 5th Massacre (2017)Rating: 7\/10 I recall the day I first saw the cover for Vendetta\u2019s 1987 debut Go And Live… Stay And Die, and I was hooked. It was a fantastic album cover, although one which tended to override the content within. There was no denying that the German thrashers were good, but musically […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3326],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vendetta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52655","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=52655"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52658,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52655\/revisions\/52658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}