VENDETTA “Black As Coal”
By Theron Moore
I’ve listened to this record a few times now and I still can’t find too many positive things to say about it. As a whole VENDETTA is inconsistent writing songs, laying down crunchy riffage, and lacking an aggressive energy overall, vocals included. For a band that’s fashioned themselves on 80’s Bay Area metal, they fail to build or sustain a classic “wall” of thrash sound that EXODUS and TESTAMENT so finely crafted. Thrash is all about unleashing a punishing level of sonic violence and VENDETTA never hit that mark with any song on this album.
If I’m not mistaken, “Black As Coal” is a statement record about the ills of our world, addressing man’s treatment of fellow man, war, hunger, etc. but lyrically the band misses the mark so badly that none of the aforementioned ever becomes impactful enough to make you take a step back and think about what they are trying to convey. At times the lyrics are so poorly thought out and written that they become comical, hence the song “AK-47.”
When the band stays on point – which isn’t for long – they sound heavy and the riffs are good, but it seems like VENDETTA either runs out of steam or worse yet, runs out of musical ideas. As you can probably figure out, when this happens , the band falters and the crunch factor disappears. In fact, on “AK-47,” they meander into proggy-techy guitar work (ala VOIVOD) resulting in the worst song on this album. And trust me, the lyrics don’t help it.
Mario Vogel lacks ferocity in his vocals. I’m expecting someone who can grab the mic and go scorched Earth when the song demands it but he never got there, he lacks grit and intensity. The lyrical content of “Black As Coal” demands outrage and anger; Instead the vocal delivery felt restrained and never channeled the aggression thrash requires.
I make this same statement every time I give a poor review – listen to “Black As Coal” and decide for yourself if you like it or not. For this writer, “Black As Coal” is a total miss. I can’t recommend it; it feels incomplete and hollow at best. Parts of it are good but most of it is musically uneven and poorly written, lyrically. The tone of this album weighed on me after a while, too. Instead of enlightening me it felt preachy and heavy handed. Sorry, I can’t recommend buying this record.
2 out 5 stars