We return to Finland to discover a death metal band by the name of Retaliatory Measures.
They formed in 2009 and recorded their EP ‘MMX’ in 2010. Their latest line-up includes a member from Synestesia.
I’ve not heard them before today, though let us now indulge in some Scandi metal.
Trial - The album starts out with a clean, melodic guitar based introduction. It gathers momentum at about 01:05 as the drums and distortion enter this instrumental. At the very end of this track is the beginning of a furious guitar melody which leads straight into the next track.
Judgement - This furious guitar melody paves the way for this upbeat track. Death vocals accompany the hammering drums. You will find yourself unable to resist thrashing out to this one. At 02:26 the music takes on a directional shift. The vocals at this point sound deeper too. The sound engineering on this is pretty good as everything seems well balanced and all the instruments can be heard. Overall, it’s a bloody good track!
Existence - The pace in this one is just as good as the last one to keep you thrashing about. I should note the death vocals are not decipherable and I don’t know if they are sung in English or Finnish, but I guess they are in English due to the English titles. You might be lucky to catch a word here and there though. The vocals are not harsh either; they have that soothing death metal vocal sound about them as opposed to something rough and gurgly. (I’m at a loss of explaining that one better right now.) This track has melodic elements throughout it which in my opinion makes it all the more better. There’s a guitar lead in here from 02:38 which I can only admire. It’s quite catchy overall and very easy to get into. It ends abruptly, but well.
Obsessed - This next track starts off sounding quite different as it uses some guitar wah and snare drum to lure us in. A death roar enters and the full capacity of the band kicks in. Without knowing what they are saying, it sounds like the vocals are filled with much angst and hatred where you know the spit is flying. There is a musical shift at 02:29 where the pace slows yet retains its heavy essence. The lowered death vocals appear. At 03:17 the pace starts to pick up again as the band regains its aptitude until its upbeat and abrupt end.
Blank - The pace in this one is upbeat and enticing. There is a nice little lead in here and it is overall another good piece you can easily get into. It’s a little as the title suggests but you can’t have astonishing tracks left, right and centre or you’d fade pretty quick. It is, I think, well placed on the album and is overall something to enjoy within the moshpit.
Passing - Here we have the final and longest track on the album at 05:34. It fades into the song with some wind-like guitar effect. The pace is fairly consistent throughout the track even though the pace picks up for a while at 02:11. There is another nice little lead in here. I like how they just throw it in and don’t over power the track with it. It ends somewhat abruptly but not in the way where you'd think, “Why’d you stop?” It definitely leaves you wanting more.
In essence, Retaliatory Measures have created a good example of their work and one which I’d be happy to buy at a gig. Death metal in general can get quite monotonous without the right structures and effort, but this band have created something I think the masses can enjoy. They don’t let it fall stagnant yet don’t cram it with too many structural changes. They also don’t seem to be following any current trends. It’s a good balance throughout the album and I recommend you all check it out. The CD I received looks to be a promotional copy so I don’t have a CD sleeve to comment on. If it was the actual CD available at a gig, I’d still get it as the musical content is worth it. I know a lot of you are into downloading music for free these days, but please, listen to the Myspace samples and if you like it, buy it and support some fellow metalheads.
LINKS
Retaliatory Measures Myspace
Review by Déa di Morté © 18 August 2011
All pictures courtesy of Retaliatory Measures