Madness to Our Method

When I received the promo of Irish Scavenger's debut full length album 'Madness to Our Method' and started to listen to it, one name came to my mind: Primordial. First 33 seconds is eerie bass playing. But no, this is no Primordial. Scavenger's metal is thrashing heavy metal, although of darker ilk. The band have labeled their music as "sharp edged power metal", but this hasn't got much common with Freedom Call, Rhapsody or Sonata Arctica. This is really powerful, unlike most power metal bands. Scavenger does a good job stealing the term back to where it belongs to.

Scavenger's debut is really a worth the release. The band has personality. Their song structures are enough out of norm, so this album offers more pleasurably listens. The songs can go from calm to metal thrashing mad parts (like the beginning of 'Storm Warning', very fitting). But some songs go on for too long. Thanks to all gods of metal there's a lot of fine, catchy riffing on offer or some other interesting activities going on and more importantly; some surprising turns, too. So, I don't feel all the songs are water-proof. When listening to Scavenger, I don't get any other names circling in my brains, but sometimes this sounds so familiar. It's not all just so in-your-face. Vocals are surely unique and it can be heard there's no holding back, but still they lack in real skillful singing, especially on higher notes. All vocals are clean, ranging from normal to more aggressive output.

I'm really wondering which way to go with the production. On the other hand it is good and on the other not. It is certainly muddy on guitars. Definitely different for this style metal, but also lacking especially in leads and solos departments; the lead guitar is also bloody muddy and the solo guitar rattles like it's broken. The acoustic guitar at least sounds good. The rhythm duo is heavy and offers some serious vibrations for sure and still the cymbals are clear. Nothing wrong there, as ain't with the vocals. Everything sounds organic and live, and everything is audible in the mix. It just got some time to work in nowadays' standards. I think there's more to guitars that is at first clear, since they just sound so different for this type of metal. Again, it's not all just so in-your-face.

This sounds better with every listen given. Hell, this isn't an easy album at first few listens! However, it certainly has charm, which is hard to be determined, straight from the beginning. There's nothing too usual here. It is somewhat vague in all departments, but still under control, if you are open-minded enough.

(Originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com in 2004)

When it comes to picking a sample track to post on your website I suppose there’s a logic to doing so. Do you pick what you think is the best track? The one most representative of the disc’s sound? How about what is generally seen as a weaker track, for fear of new fans being disappointed at, upon acquiring the CD, having already the best song(s)? In Scavenger’s case, the track available on their website didn’t do too much for me as it meandered along, stuck at the same middling pace. Well, like the old adage about books and covers, it appears that judging a band’s sound by one track is likewise something to avoid.

Scavenger hail from Ireland, but if you didn’t know that beforehand there’s no way you could guess it based on hearing this disc. Unlike other bands that either genuinely sound, er, Irish (Cruachan comes to mind) or make a big stink about being Irish (Hallowed), this foursome just play rock-solid traditional metal tinged with bits of power, thrash, and even doom, resulting in one very tasty combination.

Songs generally tend to be longer, more drawn-out affairs, which is good because we only get seven tracks, and one of them is a relatively boring instrumental passage. Actually, most of the songs are very instrumental in nature, having long stretches without vocals. For instance, opener “On the Outside” takes the AJFA-era Metallica approach of waiting until about three minutes have passed before the vocalist chimes in. While such an approach of vocal paucity may be a death knell for some bands espousing this same style, Scavenger make it work quite well. One reason might be the vocalist – he’s rather average, having an almost grunge-like whininess to his voice, though at times his aggressive delivery is passable.

There’s only one guitarist, so technical wizardry and Maiden-like tradeoffs aren’t in the picture. Instead, we are treated to a mixture of extremely tight riffing, often of the relatively simple power chord variety, and tasty single leads that are multi-tracked for effect (see “Storm Warning” at about the 3:15 mark). There are some solos, good ones at that, though they are given an odd sound in an otherwise great production (check the same “Storm Warning” solo – it sounds very distant, as if the guy’s playing across the room).

The bass on this disc is audible and handled with a certain degree of aplomb, though nothing comes across as too mindblowing. The rather deep sound of the four-stringer combines with the slightly fuzzy guitar tone to produce a sound that, strangely enough, perhaps resembles a cleaner, tighter Kyuss. Which explains the slightly doomy-sounding nature of the disc, though the material as written is often much too upbeat to be classified as doom metal, especially in the drumming department. Drummer Johnny Kerr does well behind the kit, using the double bass liberally but not wantonly.

Fans of faster traditional metal should find something to like, as should fans of the exotic-tinged bands out there like Mezarkabul. Though, as I noted earlier, the songs don’t really have an “Irish” feel to them, it is clear upon first listen that Scavenger do have a slightly unique take on the trad/power genre. Perhaps it’s the Kyuss sound, or something else entirely. Whatever it is, I think it would appeal to many more people than seem to currently know about this outfit. Just don’t base your opinion entirely off the single song posted on their site.