Weapons to Hunt, Blessed in Sin
Having previously released three albums under the Infinited Hate moniker, this band of current and former Sinister members (including founder Ron van de Polder) now have a new name, Weapons to Hunt and a debut album under said new name. Blessed in Sin has obvious similarities to the members’ other endeavor, but with a more amped-up, frenzied pace.
Honestly, the first thing you notice in listening to anything Sinister has released lately (including their latest album which we will be reviewing soon) in comparison to Blessed in Sin is that the rhythms of this one are all jacked up on trucker speed. I mean, both albums are solid, but Sinister’s latest is more in line with what we would expect on that end, while this effort from Weapons that Hunt has a much more thrash-like influence and is a bit more straightforward in it’s barbaric delivery.
The songs on this eight track album all run along the four-to-five minute mark and fly by at such a clip that they tend to blur together as one massive, rabid attack of modern death metal. Now, that can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your frame of mind at the time you hit play on your stereo. As it stands, the songs are well performed, carry a massive sound and would be quite at home among any death metal fan’s library.
“The Hell Room” sets the tone immediately with blistering guitar work and rapid-fire drumming. In sharing a Sinister’s lead growler, this album will have a very similar sound in that regard, though Kloosterwaard does present a bit more variation here. The title track has a solid thrash influence to it’s weaving guitars and unrelenting drum attack. “Corpse Field” is an awesome song that as some layered vocal dynamics and a rhythm that will leave your spine misshapen for days — not to mention its searing leads. “The Smell of Victory” carries an underlying melody that accompanies its burly riffage. “Merciless Impact” is a thrashing beast of a song while album closer, “Strike Face,” wraps up a solid album nicely with more neck-snapping mayhem.
Blessed in Sin may sound a good deal like the latest Sinister album (it does feature all but one member of that band, or is it the other way around…), but these guys do their best to separate themselves from their main gig with a more varied tempo and a solid thrash infusion. It’s a decent effort and one that I’m sure I’ll be playing again many times over.