Senate - The Great Northern Scenekill
Contrary to what its title might suggest, The Great Northern Scenekill (self-released, 2006) has nothing to do with Pantera. It’s modern thrashy melodic death metal, and quite aggressive – think Darkane or Darkest Hour. This Canadian band features Martyr drummer Patrice Hamelin (who’s touring with Despised Icon this year); this record has Threat Signal’s Marco Bressette on bass, though he’s no longer in the band. Tue Madsen did the mastering, with Tue Madsen results – punchy and compressed.
Victorious HatredQueen of Sorrow
This album is a perfect example of why I love doing this site. You’d never guess from hearing it that the band isn’t signed. It easily stacks up against the rest of what’s out there. Even if it’s not the most original stuff, I invariably find myself tapping my foot and throwing some goats.
It’s also a perfect example of what drives metal – riffs. Basically, this album is one bad-ass riff after another, and ridiculously so. Just count the killer riffs in “Victorious Hatred” – it’s almost brazen. That choppy last riff in “Queen of Sorrow”? Sick. I picture these guys slaving away in a sweatshop; they’re not making Hallmark cards or fortune cookies, but killer riffs. There’s this guy with a whip, and he won’t let the band leave until they’ve made 50 killer riffs each day.
Yes, I know I’m weird.
A few rookie mistakes on this debut-full length: a cute but completely inappropriate jazz guitar intro, fluctuating levels of vocals in the mix. I don’t mind the latter, though, as the raspy yells are somewhat faceless. “Queen of Sorrow” does hit some awesome multitracked singing at 4:28 that’s so Def Leppard – hell yeah.
Eat poutine, drink Molson, and find this at Senate’s MySpace. The entire album is available for streaming at the band’s website.
