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NINTH REALM “Damnation’s Veil”
NINTH REALM “Damnation’s Veil”
By Dr. Abner Mality
NINTH REALM is a band that should tick all the boxes for me. They play a burly combo of death and thrash metal that has strong roots in classic metal. They also tell an epic fantasy tale on “Damnation’s Veil”. Indeed, this should be in the running for one of the records of the year.
It doesn’t make that mark for me and it’s hard to tell you why. All I can say is that I like the neighborhood this band is working in, but something is missing. Is it the production? Not really. It’s clear enough but a bit anonymous sounding, if that makes sense. Is it the songwriting? Maybe. I get a strange feeling of everything here being just too pat, almost to the point of being generic. It’s energetic, it’s heavy but it doesn’t reach that next level.
So we’re really talking about my own personal taste here. “Your mileage may vary” is the cliche term. Looking at the songs, they strike me as mostly OK but stuck in second gear. Two exceptions are “Rituals of Thar’amath” and “Vengeance Unto Rot” which have elements of that classic 80’s “Metal Blade” sound found in ATTACKER, OMEN and early FATES WARNING but injected with thrashy intensity. Those are the tunes where NINTH REALM find their sweet spot.
It needs a little extra personality. The vocals of Ben Hageage sound like a lot of other power-thrash guys…maybe rough it up a bit more? I certainly don’t dislike “Damnation’s Veil” and I think many readers will like it more than I do, but there is plenty of room for growth here.
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