CONVULSE - Cycle Of Revenge
April 30, 2016, 7 years ago
(Svart)
What extreme metal fan isn't charmed by Finns Convulse? Be it their ultra-raw early death metal or the weirdo Reflections album, which was death 'n' roll way before we realized that was a thing, the band has always done what they do well. And here they continue their unexpected comeback with an album that suddenly makes me realize during the opening title track that the other band that kinda flirted with this sound in the past was Amorphis. But while I could never fully warm up to that band, Convulse's dramatic boogie-death hits the spot here, this 35-minute album whispering all kinds of extreme sweet nothings into my ear before slipping a copy of Reflections into my hand and tucking me into bed.
But then I wake up in a cold sweat: wasn't this band's comeback album, 2013's Evil Prevails, rooted in their early death metal sound? Sure was, and now Convulse are back on their strange, strange pattern of making every second album a freaky-shaky death 'n' roll journey through sorrow and ecstasy. The band flirt with plenty of Identity-compilation sounds here though, at times bringing to mind Tiamat or Sentenced or all kinds of groups who flirt between being way too sad and way too happy, end result being I have no freaking idea, but it's fun, it rocks hard, it deaths, it rolls, and good lord this band is confusing. Not, like, Entombed levels of confusing, but definitely a contender. But therein lays the charm of strange, strange Convulse.