If ever there was to be a prize given to the band with the most ridiculous moniker ever conceived in the history of our beloved genre, surely these guys would be at the front of the queue? What's more, was there ever a more inappropriate album title in the world of heavy metal? With a name that would embarrass even the cheesiest of 80's big-hair bands and an album title liable to provoke screams of "sacrilege! from metal purists, suffice to say that if first impressions really do count, this is NOT a very promising start.
Denmark's Raunchy have been major players in the Scandinavian melodic-death scene for a number of years now and after two fairly well-received demos in the late 90's, they inked a deal with Nuclear Blast Records and released the moderately successful Velvet Noise and Confusion Bay, to much acclaim from rock and metal magazines around Europe. However, after a recent split with the label, they have signed to Lifeforce Records and now unleash this, their third full-length album. It has to be said that despite their atrocious choice of name, Raunchy pack a reasonable punch musically.
Complemented by impressively slick production values, there is no denying their ability to write a catchy tune and pen a memorable chorus. Heavy riffs, reminiscent of Fear Factory and Straapping Young LD, jostle competently with Gothenburg-style melodic death refrains and gleaming pop sensibilities throughout. Yet despite the heaviness and relatively flawless execution of the songs, Raunchy always come across as incredibly derivative. In fact, it has to be said that while listening to this album over and over, I felt like I was being treated to advance listenings of the new Soilwork album. Even during some of the more progressive sections, which feature soaring melodic choruses, they echo the Canadian masters Into Eternity. While these may sound like impressive points of reference from the outset, there is really nothing here which hasn't been done before (and done better) by other bands.
So how do I sum up this release? Well, after overcoming any pre-conceived ideas which inevitably accompanied the band's name and album title, what we are left with is a fairly competent piece of work. Nevertheless, it has to be said that the metal scene has been over-saturated with melodic-death bands in recent times, to the point where it is becoming as boring and predictable as the Roadrunner and Metal Blade-driven metal-core trend currently doing the rounds. Melodic death metal completists may want to add this to their collection, but I shall bide my time until the next Soilwork and Into Eternity albums.