Germany’s FDA Rekotz has unearthed yet another homegrown band playing the classic Stockholm sound to join country mates Revel In Flesh, Slaughterday, Lifeless and Wound, by way of Harm and their debut, Cadaver Christi, a fun little romp through Dismember and Grave styled mid range goodness.
All of of the above mentioned bands, Harm is the catchiest with a crisper, cleaner Stockholm sound and lots of melodic, cantering riffs akin to Dismember’s classic material. Even with a more rough and off kilter Autopsy-ish vocal approach, and Hail of Bullets like war-mongering themes, the material on Cadaver Christi is generally a little lighter and ‘nicer’ than their peers and label mates, but it makes for a pretty solid , nice little album of the style that does not try to over do the tone or influence but rely on catchy, bouncier riffs rather than beat you over the head with buzz saw guitars and heavy handed Entombed-isms.
Though still armed with a familiar buzz, the airier, lighter tone makes the riffs come alive rather than a dusty, musty presence so the songs have a little less old school, oomph, but plenty of memorable riffs akin to US act Terminate. Case and point, second track “Burn the Saints”, which has a ridiculously addictive, rollicking main riff. The same can be said for “Divers of Death” and riotous bass line intro for “Blood for God” and cantankerous “When the Tigers Roar”.
A few grooves litter the generally more uptempo pace such as ‘Mustard Gas Terror”, Autopsy crawl to start “Harmageddon” or start of following track “Nuclear Holocaust”, but they never quite reach a massive Hail of Bullets, presence and Harm is far better galloping along at a more frenetic pace like punky closer “Cross Desecration”. In all, not a world beater or game changer, but still a pretty solid, fun release and example of the genre.
