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Vendetta > The 5th > Reviews
Vendetta - The 5th

5 for a Return with a Vengeance - 84%

bayern, June 18th, 2017

Vendetta’s spell with the metal scene was very short back in the 80’s although they did produce two pretty good albums that should have shot them into the spotlight. Well, they didn’t, and the guys disappeared from the public eye before making any impression at all to anyone. A fairly familiar story, if you ask me, as the band spent the uncertain 90’s hibernating, deciding to give themselves another chance in the new millennium with the old school resurrection campaign and all. However, for some mysterious reason, they have decided to pay tribute to the decade they spent in a dormant state, and their first two instalments were messy, not very coherent mixtures of their style from the past and the groovy/post-thrashy vogues from some ten years ago.

Not the most successful comeback on the scene by any stretch, the band were obviously destined to remain just an underground phenomenon regardless of the time and the occasion. It was sad, though, this reformation spell as it was simply way inferior to their old exploits. Well, 5th time’s the charm for them apparently as this new offering sees them finally pulling themselves together, bringing back some of the old vigour from the past in an admirable way as “Fragile” nicely recalls the band’s debut with the vigorous speed/thrashing crescendos and the more technical dashes. “Let’er Rip” is a smashing headbanger going way over any of their previous aggressive feats, and “Deadly Sin” carries on in the same direction with fierce gallops and a few less orthodox decisions.

“Agency of Liberty” raises the level even higher with the fast-paced vortexes and the smart intricate arrangements, before “The Search” offers some balladic, idyllic pauses. Comes “The Prophecy”, and the fans will rejoice all over as this piece is an awesome progressive speed/thrasher that would find a place on “Brain Damage” any time with the complex rifforamas and the delectable melodic variations which create a really nice meandering symbiosis. “Shame on You” is the sole reminder of the band’s more recent post-thrashy flirtations, but expect more dynamic strokes and dramatic stomps to make it a less ordinary nod to the groovy 90’s. “Religion is a Killer” is a more laid-back speed metal anthem the accumulated inertia hitting the 80’s parametres before “Nevermind” puts an end to everything with a nice balladic touch the heavy tranquillity lasting for nearly 6-min.

The last track kind of doesn’t match the vigour of the preceding material, but doesn’t ruin the final impression at all since there are plenty of interesting moments for the listener to feel that the band finally mean business here, and have finally remembered what they used to play some thirty years ago. To talk about a total return to the roots would be too far-fetched, of course, but at least the guys have managed to wash away the shame from the last two showings, and it seems as though they have set on a journey of self-discovery that may even take them to heights they’ve never reached before. Back in the 80’s they were circling around the progressive/technical thrash cohorts, and remained in the outskirts of the movement not feeling brave enough to enter this particular arena the way Mekong Delta, Sieges Even, Deathrow, Realm, and others did. They didn’t have the courage for this although they by all means had the requisite skills. With all the gimmicks of the old school restored to their former glories in the new millennium, the band should feel more courageous now; people say that the 6th time charms keep coming in heaps… and with a vengeance.

Scoring solidarity - 55%

autothrall, February 24th, 2017
Written based on this version: 2017, CD, Massacre Records

Undoubtedly a promising second stringer during the Golden Age of German thrashing, Vendetta have sadly not had the best comeback streak among their countrymen, being heavily overshadowed in this last decade much as they were in the 80s, with bands like Kreator and Destruction still soaring fairly high over followings that have been cemented for decades to come, if they can keep on kicking out the same competent continuity. Their latest, creatively titled record The 5th does not do a hell of a lot to cultivate either the catchiness of Brain Damage nor the savage velocity of their debut, but that's not to say it's entirely rubbish, only that the band continues to let a little of that 90s groove/thrash influence inflect upon the dynamic riffing and mildly melodic intensity of their prime, and not to the betterment of the finished product.

There are certainly riffing phrases across the tracks here that recall some of the earlier material, and vocalist Mario Vogel once again tries to do his own spin on the original Vendetta style from decades before he joined the ranks, but in the case of the former, they're just not memorable or quirky at all, and the latter seems a little disheveled and sloppy, unable to really drive home a good chorus, not that the rest of the band have really provided him with much to go on there. The riffs in cuts like "Deadly Sin" exhibit a little of that uplifting thrust that you'd recognize from Brain Damage, Destruction or perhaps the power thrash of Danes Artillery, but too many of the progressions rely on rather boring payoffs that don't catch the ear. The production is rather solid, with a good bite to the rhythm tracks and a nice, over the top atmosphere created when the leads enter the fray, providing for some of the better moments on the albums. But then you layer in those vocals, and the lack of a real money shot riff anywhere in a 3-4 minute track and it's average at best, goofy at worst.

It's nice that the band still maintains a fraction of that adventurous spirit they held in their youth, and for instance the classical guitar interlude "The Search" is quite nice, and you can close your eyes and just imagine if they balance that out with vintage Vendetta or Deathrow-quality heavier material, but while this does in fact set up "The Prophecy", which owns 1-2 of the more agreeable riffs on the whole record (before devolving into some lamentable breaky groove thrash), it's buried too deep in the track list to leave much of an impression. There's also something up with the drum mix here, in particular the snares which popped and hissed out of the mix a little much to distract away from the nice, warm crunch of the guitar tone. The bass guitar also doesn't really stand out to me, curving along behind the other guitars but incapable of really standing forth unless it's hitting up the good old slap and pop sound (near the end of "The Prophecy").. All that said, this is a slight bump up from 2011's Feed the Extermination. You can hear some genuine character attempting to seep through the cracks, but it's just not enough, and combined with the relatively weak cover artwork I just think this is an album that's going to be easily overlooked with so much stiff competition. And rightly so.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com