Chainfist

Scarred

Written by: MN on 26/09/2014 16:28:43

Panzerchrist, Frozen Sun and Infernal Death are all bands that have made a serious contribution to the Danish death and thrash metal scenes, especially Panzerchrist gaining significant international attention and dubbed the supreme leaders of the Danish school of death metal. Now who would have thought that members from these band should ever come together and produce something so marginally different by forming Chainfist. Chainfist is a band that released their debut in 2010 to acrimonious reception. Half the critics saw it as a band with a straight-forward heavy metal/rock approach aiming to produce easily accessible neo-thrash to mainstream appeal, the other half found this exact formula to be extremely tiresome and downright boring. After a couple of tracks, I remain a bit ambivalent, one half finds me nodding and humming along to the clearly catchy, sometimes cliché riddled, choruses that are more or less successful on most tracks on new album "Scarred". The other half finds it hard to find anything truly original about Chainfist.

It is clear that the big four are big inspirations to the Chainfist project, as their sound draws a lot of the signature thrash riffing of bands like Metallica and Anthrax, but the soundscape also retains a distinct sound found in more modern local Danish bands like Volbeat and Mercenary. Opening track "Scars Of Time" contains chugging riffs and searing solos ever so present in a modern-thrash formula. "1000 Ways To Bleed" slows the tempo and produces a more raucous sound, allowing vocalist Jackie Petersen to display his admittedly competent vocals. "Black Rebel Noise" is one of the most accessible tracks with a bouncy chorus and a contagious vocal line, same goes for "Seven Minutes Of Pain", the latter seeming a bit power-metal inspired. The first ballad on the record, "Another Day In Hell" is another chance for Jackie to spread his wings and test his lyrical skills. Luckily the slow pace is retired and the double pedal pummels below another squealing solo. At this point, I have to admit that instrumentally, Chainfist have got good skill, especially in the more heavier pieces "Poison Moon" and album favourite "10.000" which has one of the best riffs on the record.

Much can be said about Chainfist, both positive and negative, but from a personal perspective, this is not the type of record I would study intensely, and even for easy listening I can honestly find more inspiring bands out there. Their music is very easily digested and appeals to a very broad audience, a little bit like Mercenary and Volbeat have managed. That being said, the music is not bad, and I am glad that some Danish bands continue to aim at reaching a broad audience and thus drawing more attention to the world of metal.

6

Download: 10.000, Scars Of Time, Poison Moon
For The Fans Of: Godsmack, Avenged Sevenfold, Mercenary
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 06.10.2014
Mighty Music

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