Today we travel through the metal realm of Chile and discover a band called Vastator. According to their bio, they focus on the more classic side of metal with a thrash based sound. They have been around since the 1980’s and draw their influences from acts such as Judas Priest and Manowar. Vastator have many releases under their belt but today we have their latest album ‘Machine Hell’ for review. I’ve never heard these guys prior to today, but from the content of this bio,
I am prepared to power it up!
Machine Hell - The album begins with the sound of a machine starting up. Suddenly, we are being hammered by some very speedy drum beats and some rather high pitched power metal vocals. I expected power metal but not to this degree. This is truly a fast paced, frenzied, power attack! I don’t recall Judas Priest ever gaining such speed and Vastator are giving Halford a run for his money on the vocal pitch. This song gives off a lot of energy and enthusiasm which is obviously a great way to begin an album.
8.8 - The sounds of some machinery in the distance is what brings us into this next track. The music slowly fades in, sounding much like a machine itself. This is a fairly short track at 02:37 and is basically an instrumental aside from a few oh’s and ah’s. It does seem a little odd having this so soon on the album, but then again, it tends to help you calm down a bit after that first intense track.
The Gods Give No Reply - A nice, little guitar lead accompanies the drums to start off this next track. It is very fast paced and upbeat, filled with a variety of vocal pitch. You can definitely hear the influence of Judas Priest, Manowar and Mercyful Fate. At times those vocals are simply insane! The rhythms are relentless in creating that machine gun sound. I would have chosen to describe this more of being speed based power metal as opposed to thrash based. The intensity of these tracks are actually pretty mind blowing!
Fiend – A fairly light guitar melody brings us into this next track accompanied by some light cymbal taps and basic beats. The sound of this one is more along the lines of Iron Maiden. It has a slight swing to the sound which gives it somewhat of a groove to follow. Thankfully, the vocals are always in tune as varied as they are. There is some good guitar work in here. This band are obviously very talented. I guess it is just a matter of whomever can fund the marketing is going to come out the winner in the popularity contest. I certainly had never heard them before today but do wonder why they aren’t more popular since they’ve been around since the 1980’s. It surely isn’t lack of ability.
X-Terminate – A mean bass leads us into this next song and the pace soon picks up to what sounds much like Overkill. I haven’t heard such music in quite a long time. There is a nice lead in here from 01:43 til 02:04. The pace in this is absolutely insane! The song shares the spotlight with a drum solo, prominent guitar lead as I mentioned and even a second bass moment. Not to dismiss the crazed vocal lines. The sound engineering in this is pretty damn good. It seems to infuse that old 80’s sound with today’s clarity which is excellent. Good track!
Hawker Hunter – I do love a good lead and this band likes to spread the joy but never too much; just a splash here and there so all the instruments can share the glory. However, there are a few leads within this track which are almost competitive at one point. Vocalist, Diaz, must have practiced a hell of a lot to perfect his vocal range. This is again fast paced and is a very good track which presents their abilities well.
Reminiscence – A piano guides us into this next track accompanied only by vocals until 01:09 when a very faint sound of strings enter. Soon a background set guitar also appears. It is not until 02:25 that the entirety of the music kicks in. This song is more of a vocal expression than anything else; nothing to headbang to. It is more like an intermission for the album.
Combustible En La Sangre – The start of a motorbike and others speeding by are what begins this track. It should also be obvious to my readers that by reading the title that this song is in Chilean, not English as its predecessors were. It is fairly fast paced throughout and ends as it begun with the sound of a motorbike. They truly are the Chilean Judas Priest.
Punado De Almas – There should be a ~ on top of the ‘n’ in the title but I don’t have the accent in here for it. This song is also fast paced and even has some atmospheric effects throughout it. Of course, going by the title, it is also sung in Chilean as all the remaining tracks are. It is hard to express its true meaning without lyrics but the feeling I get from this track is it represents a musical whirlwind; a force to simply blow you away and destroy you like a cyclone or hurricane.
El Ultimo Grito En El Infierno – Musically, the pace in these tracks is like being placed inside a blender. It really is intense. The instruments are all so well balanced that even the bass has the clarity it deserves. One could really find themself being brutalised in a moshpit when viewing this band. There are split second moments where the music pauses but this is not to be confused with an end lest you be annihilated if you don’t keep moving. They sure can thrash out some killer speeds!
Caleuche – Here we have the final track on the album and it is the longest at 11:16. It starts out fairly relaxed and atmospheric, even as it builds up momentum. The Chilean vocals are operatic as they begin and the pace is quite slow, almost doom-like. At 03:53 there is a musical shift and the drums begin their hammering. It is only now the pace quickens. But it is only when the song gets half way that the drums go truly ballistic and let loose on the double kick drumming. There is yet another musical shift at 06:55 where all the instruments disappear leaving only the drums. This is the extended drum solo part one might experience at a concert. I appreciate these moments much more when it is live as opposed to being placed on an album. The drum solo sounds much more like a filler than a continuation of a song. Alas, it is at 09:13 when the other instruments return and continue on like the drum solo never existed. I would’ve preferred this track without that drum solo as for a final track it doesn’t really do the rest of the album justice.
The Gods Give No Reply - Video Clip - The bonus video clip attached to this album is simply visual extracts from the band during their studio recording. It is nice to put the faces to the music though.
In essence, Vastator have created a mind blowing, speed based, power metal album. The vocal range is astounding! There is much talent within this band and they deserve a little more recognition. It may just be my own ignorance, having never heard of them before, but the name has never been spoken of around my realm. I can assure you that there are some hardcore power metal lovers amongst my group of friends. The CD I received is a promotional copy so I don't know if the in-store version has lyrics or not. The CD cover, as you can see from the picture above this review, is filled with an apocalyptic take on machine based domination with skulls scattered in their wake. On the CD itself is a black and white print of the covers bottom left skull along with band logo. I don’t think it matters what genre preference you have in order to check out this band. If nothing else, you have to hear these vocals, they will tear you apart! Check them out on the links below.
LINKS
Vastator Website
Vastator Myspace
Inferno Records
Review by Déa di Morté © 19 July 2011
All pictures courtesy of Vastator and Inferno Records