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Rating: Young metalheads are growing, or at least that's what emerges from listening to the debut record of Roots Of Pain, a band from Parma dedicated to a melodic death metal heavily contaminated by metalcore and thrash. Structured as a concept album with the much-desired Mayan prophecy as its main theme, the record presents a band with multiple influences, skilful at least in creating structurally simple and effective songs.
The formula remains more or less the same: leading riff, an effective rhythm section with its constant tempo changes, and a very death/black style singing with powerful growl. It's almost amusing to find in the "for fans of" section names like Lamb Of God, In Flames, and Parkway Drive (!!!), because essentially, there is little of them in this work. I would rather speak of Kreator, Entombed, Vader and why not, Behemoth, given the proposal of our band is anything but easy listening.
"Countdown To Armageddon" is an album that highlights the band's qualities whenever they go hard and extreme all the way, but at the same time it reveals lacks of ideas in the few situations where the protagonists open the doors to melody and more relaxed rhythms (a blatant example being the awful “The Seventh Page”). An input that could help them find the right path for the future, considering that in the extreme key they have good cards to play. Good work done on the vocal and guitar parts – with sharp riffs – but the rhythm section and bass should be reviewed in part, perhaps challenged by a sound production that does not highlight them properly.
Recorded and produced in full DIY style, this record is a product especially intended for a fringe of old school listeners, accustomed to raw sounds and constant vocal aggression.
Tracklist
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