I have expressed many times in the past my belief that the Scandinavian countries are the hottest Metal well during - at least - the last decade. This time we have REVENGINE from Finland who have just released a brand new EP that is also their first 'regular' one after the two demos.
I cannot say that Plan Your Escape blew my head off during the listening sessions. The METALLICA attitude (late era of course) is a nice treat while the Rock-ish flavors are the main element to comment on but that is all. There is not much action among the six tracks of this EP apart from the very good guitar hooks and the Hetfield-esque vocals. The good thing is that the music raises a significant amount of expectations for the future development of the Finnish band that seems to have something to say. I really enjoy the pretty raw sound production that has an St Anger feeling on the drums without losing an inch in terms of melody. Take for a example Live In A Moment that kicks in nicely with some guitar versus bass doodle. If fact the latter reminded me of Ozzy's No More Tears intro and that is a good thing. One more band that came to mind during the CD spins was PERZONAL WAR with less aggressive compositions. What made me think that this is not something really special are the mainstream 'core' elements found in Fear Me; I hope this is not the band's main goal. Die For You is more appealing through the Rock injections, the melodic vocal lines and the excellent bass guitar activity in the back.
To sum this up, I would say that REVENGINE have something going on but need more time to establish a more personal sound and a more distinct musical direction that will give the band a solid identity. I will keep REVENGINE in my 'to check' list and see what their next step will be in the full length debut.