‘Ripping apart the extreme metal rule book, AGHAST! incorporate the blasting fury of death metal, sickening speed of thrash metal and the slamming bounce of grindcore. With an ear for melody that will leave you humming along to the ringing in your ears.’
Pretty much the above bio is self-explanatory on London’s Aghast! The background story on how they formed is the greatest story I have ever heard. They were formed after a drinking competition and had subsequent visits to the medical tent at Wacken Open Air Festival in 2006. Aghast! take me back to Hitchin years ago when I saw them for the first time play at Club 85. Not the kind of band I would listen to but their stage presence was outstanding I was eager to see more of them. It was difficult for me to travel to Hitchin and wasn’t ever aware of when they played but luckily I got the chance to catch them at my other home, Bloodstock 2014. The boys made an appearance on The Sophie Lancaster Stage and in all honesty, it was one of the best sets I had seen all weekend – their metal is so extreme it knees you right in the crotch. Very powerful. They should’ve been on The Ronnie James Dio stage that’s for sure. Sometime in the future, yes boys? I highly recommend you check these guys out if they ever come to a town/city near you, especially if you’re a Melodic/Black/Death/Hardcore (Or maybe, all) Metal fan.
I was more than excited when I had the opportunity to review their recently released album All The Rage. It makes a nice change from me constantly listening to Power/Folk Metal (Possibly the occasional 80’s Pop…. Wait, who said that?). Their self-titled track ‘All The Rage’, I can’t say much apart from this ‘We’re gonna rip this wretched place apart. Just tell us where to start, we’ll grab it by the bollocks then stab it in the heart’. If that’s not a crackin’ start to an album then I don’t know what is. It’s so epic, the more I hear it, the more goosebumps I get. ‘Hollywood Ending’ and ‘Afterlife Crisis’ follow afterwards and seem to be the crowd pleasing tracks of the album, especially with the clean vocals mid-way through ‘Afterlife Crisis’. I can’t bear this anymore, I should just end the review with – IT’S ACE. But, I shall not, so I must go on. I read somewhere that ‘Drop Dead Famous’ was the weakest song of the album. My response to that is ‘Kiss. My. Ass.’ This track, along with ‘It’s Your Funeral’ are the tracks that stand out the most for me with their tasty beats and chug-tastic riffs. Now I’m a huge power metal fan so saying how much I love this album is really saying something. If I enjoyed this album very much then I’m sure anyone will enjoy it too. If you’re a massive head banger and wind milling freak then ‘Look Alive!’, ‘Sea of Trees’ & ‘Hells Bells’ are the tracks for you. ‘Noise Pollution’ is the track that will make your blood boil so much you are bound to smash a brick into someone’s skull.
As quoted from their bio, throughout the album you can hear beautiful blends of thrash, melodic, death and grindcore metal with many surprises like clean, scream and harmonic vocals. Such spoilt boys they are – Wink, wink. This album is energetic, buzzing and it’s so far up your ass you will crap out metal. Nice, lads…. Nice.
Check Out: All The Rage, It’s Your Funeral, Drop Dead Famous
If You Enjoy: Bloodbath, Cannabis Corpse, Infection
Tracklist:
1 – Die Laughing
2 – All The Rage
3 – Hollywood Ending
4 – Afterlife Crisis
5 – Drop Dead Famous
6 – Bang To Rights
7 – It’s Your Funeral
8 – Look Alive!
9 – Sea Of Trees
10 – Hells Bells (And Buckets Of Blood)
11 – We Fear Silence
12- Noise Pollution
Aghast! Are:
James Anson – Vocals
Sam Holmes – Guitars
Daniel Henderson – Bass
Nicholas ‘Nick’ Plews – Drums
Links:
- £7.50