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With a sound that crisscrosses through so many metal styles like the New York City subway system, Germany’s Rusted Chains invites my skepticism and hostility from the get-go. But don’t look now, this quintet manages to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat. I’m not kidding when I assert that this record bounds from melodic death to thrash to black to doom to metalcore and back again. Such tactics usually smack of unconvincing eclecticism, a “see what works” mentality that rarely produces anything of worth, but every one of those genre tropes blends seamlessly here, played beyond skillfully by six- and four-stringers alike and whipped up by an intuitive, pocket-friendly drummer and a perpetually throaty screamer/growler who neither distinguishes nor embarrasses himself. So we have synergy of form and function, of style and substance, with the only major debit being the songs themselves. They’re acceptable but not exemplary, and oh my bwoken widdle heart. The band has since recorded a follow-up, In Nights of Nemesis, as yet unheard by mine ears but soon to be approached with all the optimism for which I initially lacked in greeting this debut. Watch this spot.
| Tracklist |
| 1. March of the Infected |
| 2. Scars Through Reflection |
| 3. Black Summer Days |
| 4. Dedicated to Darkness |
| 5. Blossom in Obscurity |
| 6. Funeral Service for My Generation |
| 7. Chainnation |
| 8. Tomorrow Is Today |
| 9. Everything I Touch Is Breaking |
| 10. Where Desire Finds Embracement |
: 37:10
| Buy other Rusted Chains albums |
