Any and all bands have their influences, their reasons for he or she to pick up a guitar or to stand in front of the mic and let their voice be heard. Then it comes to another thought, as to when and how much you take these influences and take that next step and make your own sound or do you become a copy of that which influenced you?  Sometimes it can work and for others, well it becomes that which people judge you on. You have Airbourne, Kingdom Come (remember them?) War Master and Apokalyptic Raids, bands that are heavily derivative but they make it work to varying degrees of success. With Izegrim and their latest The Ferryman’s End, it becomes readily apparent who they are influenced by….but that may not be a factor, rather it will be who YOU think they sound like.

The reason I say this, is because Izegrim have been around since 1998, so they got some history behind with a number of full lengths and some EP’s under their belt. So technically they predate those who many will compare them to, namely Arch Enemy via the Angela Gossow/Wages of Sin era. Izegrim have utilized various women singers on prior releases but with the current incarnation they have the services of vocalist and bassist Marloes Voskuil. Who by the way does a have an interesting growl and enunciates the lyrics very well. So yes, when listening to this you will get a lot of Arch Enemy but I feel Izegrim have a rougher, slightly harder edged sound and not as much guitar twiddling going on but enough of the comparisons, on with the band itself!

Consisting of 4 members, the band incorporates a very full and dynamic sound, like previously mentioned a rougher melo-death thrash approach, fast paced, dual guitar leads and changing rhythms and with a lyrical stance dealing with a more personal viewpoint on war, destruction and the chaos of life. Take a listen to “Insanity Is Freedom” to get a good of idea of the harder edge, the chugging rhythms and you may come to enjoy their approach more and not have that comparison so much. “Reflection of Redemption” has some wonderful, drum and guitar interplay, with drummer Ivo Maarhuis playing standout drumming to match the guitars. I love the slow Asphyx like guitar ending, along with the shouted chorus. I feel with the slight difference in the band’s sound, it can be interesting and maybe offer something different, production is great and offers great clarity in sound but many may be too busy saying “Arch Enemy clone!”  Besides the aforementioned sound comparisons, another slight drawback, would be the some of the album may suffer from a bit of a sameness in the sound/ song structure. At 11 songs, it can be a bit of an issue, but on the other hand, each song does offer some cool elements also, so that it does not distract too much from the overall.  So,  dear readers,  if you desperately need your 24hr Arch Enemy fix,  here you go. If you just love metal and love it and want to be entertained, here you go, but if you don’t want to hear a band that may be a bit too familiar to some others, well, you may need to look elsewhere.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments