Released February 28th 2018
Runtime: 30 Minutes, 46 Seconds
Record Label: Everlasting Spew Records
- Mood For The Blade (3:45)
- Enjoyment Of Annihilation (2:31)
- Deathbeat Deity (3:10)
- Sanguine Vigil (5:14)
- Grand Till… You’re Dead! (1:24)
- Domestic Mastication (3:04)
- Gorefestation (2:26)
- Premature Rot (2:29)
- Unfinished Autopsy (3:38)
- A Painful End For Curiosity (Necrobosis Cover) (3:05)
- Nico Niemkiko (Drums)
- Aleksi Vahamaki (Guitar/Backing Vocals)
- Vili Makinen (Bass/Lead Vocals)
So its been a while since I’ve had a band and an album so recommended to me following the posts of InfidelAmsterdam who has proven to be a great source of inspiration and bands that i otherwise haven’t heard of before. I can credit his work for helping me discover Sulphur Aeon, Bloodshot Dawn, Burial Invocation as well as a great many more newer bands and albums released this year as posted on his own Instagram. This is yet another example of him doing his great work with Finland’s Galvanizer releasing their debut album Sanguine Vigil much earlier this year; this record interested me upon first viewing owing to both its Finnish origin, nigh on unreadable band logo (which always seems to be a hint as to how extreme a band could be) and short runtime. I was very excited to check this out especially since at the time of listening to it, Sanguine Vigil would become one of the final albums released in 2018 that i would listen to.
The most immediate and noticeable quality that this album gives you right from the opening second is the sheer, unbelievable bass going into its duration. Present from the very beginning and rocking your ears right to the final seconds of Sanguine Vigil, Galvanizer absolutely pound your senses into the earth with a soundscape that does nothing but overwhelm and pulverize any trepidation you may have been harbouring towards this record. It helps to bolster the band’s sound to far greater proportions than it already has, it feels like it fills any remaining space between the riffs and your ears where one could almost describe it as cushioning the riffs; delivering a soft landing where the riffs can still exude their power but do not come off as too massive to be effectively taken in. There’s not a blank spot on this sound to be had, its completely filled in and not to lacklustre effect either.
With the sheer amount of bass to be found on this album the actual guitar riffs themselves feel like they’re being somewhat muffled throughout the album’s duration. However i would say that its a form of muffling that really works to the band’s advantages because unlike some bands who have opted for this cloudier and muddier type of riff delivery, Galvanizer have really excelled at mixing together their riffs and bass work to create this differently crushing sound. You accept that the riffs are the way they have been presented as they have but the guitar work isn’t so dominating as to take away what the rest of the band are offering, the incredible might of album’s bass is something to behold and gives you a different quality to admire as the band unload one immense riff after another. You don’t feel so overburdened by the album’s sound because in a way you actually breathe while it’s playing. As for the actual riffs themselves they still come across with good pronunciation as you are able to pick up their meaty and tone-driven strength, chord playing is well delivered and you can feel the way the band are moving their way along the necks of their guitars.
The vocals with this album took me by surprise as this is one of the few albums where a truly guttural and unintelligible vocal performance would have been more than welcomed as well as expected. With the utterly crushing bass that this record delivers i would have expected Galvanizer to give us such a crushing and devastatingly guttural vocal delivery, instead we get a more typical growling performance that while is still good and suits the music the band play would have loved to have received that kind of guttural and ultra low depths of a vocal demonstration. This is the kind of album where they could have chosen that kind of vocal delivery and it wouldn’t been seen as something extreme but merely something that went hand in hand with the music on display. For the vast majority of this album the drums don’t really venture too far into blast beat territory here. This is really a dual-edged sword because on the good side of things it helps the drums to be much more pronounced both in how their bass drums are performed and the general drum patterns are examined much more closely than simply being mere explosions of aggression, on the other hand i could equally say that the blast beats included are performed really well and the fact that they’re not always going at it creates a far greater impact when they are put on show for us. The blast beats are well controlled too and do not come across as wild and maniacal outbursts but instead as disciplined and conveyed escalations in intensity.
I love how the album ends though, the band could have simply let it end with fiery and bombastic resolve but instead we get something that looks deeper into the band’s capacity for melodic playing. Honestly at the time of originally listening to the album i had no idea this was a Necrobiosis cover, i’d never heard of the song nor the band at the time and so fully believed this was an original song by Galvanizer. Regardless of that, not only is it a nice change from the rampant fury that Galvanizer display up to this final track but it also helps paint a more well-rounded and three-dimensional picture for who Galvanizer are and what they could offer us in the future. I’d be lying if i said i didn’t especially enjoy this final segment of the album because i really did, i’m a sucker for melodic riffs at the best of times so to hear something like this after so much aggression really made me smile at the end of the record. What’s more the band worked to it so that this track actually felt like the end of the album, bringing your experience to a satisfactory close.
In conclusion, this is a rather crushing album and while a lot of modern extreme metal can be described as such Galvanizer approach with such a unique way than many of their other contemporary bands. By utilising a massive Bass-led production the band have been able to get the maximum punch out of the riffs as is sonically possible i feel. The band offer entertaining riffs, strong vocals but overall a satisfying and well rounded album experience that makes listening to it rather rewarding. I’d definitely like to keep track of Galvanizer to see what they do in the future because they’re promising us with good stuff here.
8/10
Favourite tracks:
- Deathbeat Deity
- Gorefestation
- A Painful End For Curiosity
Bangyourheaduntlyouredead 