Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Regressive - "Born in the Grave" (Defense Records/Mythrone Promotion, 2019)

Band: Regressive
Title: Born in the Grave
Genre: Black/Speed'n'Roll
Time: 33.39 min
Release date: 19th October 2019
Vote: 85/100










As the Cuban thrash metal sensation Infector, also the Regressive is a band that I featured in the "Metal in the Box #1". Now that I have the occasion to talk about them in a more specific way, they are a trio from Lithuania founded in 2008 but, after two splits and a curious release shared with the brutal deathsters Infestation covering an Exhumed's track, they published their debut full-lenght album "Born in the Grave" (Defense Records/Mythrone Promotion) only last year. Fortunately, the wait was not in vain because we are in presence of three guys that perfectly know what they are doing and... but it's still too soon for the conclusions, so let's see because they deserve your consideration!

Admittedly influenced by bands such as Venom, Celtic Frost, Bathory and Carnivore, Regressive, that I included in "Come on, burn my ears! #6" spewed forth a 9-track album that opens already at a breackneck speed, without any stupid intros, with "Join Us", so expect a heart attack when you'll play "Born in the Grave"! Through "Join Us", the basic style of the Regressive is already clear: an unchained black/speed metal with rock'n'roll influences and vocals à la Cronos, in according to a way to play metal very close to bands of the calibre of Midnight, Baphomet's Blood, Terrörhammer and the likes. But the nicer thing is that these three demons have a lot more to offer than you can imagine!

In fact, there is need to say that "Born in the Grave", which is full of themes dealing with the horror movies, isn't fast, fast and fuckin' fast throughout its duration as in many albums of this kind, so we're talking about a black/speed metal able to be dynamic and also unpredictable, as you'll see soon. This means two things: the album contains mid-tempo songs here and there like "Chainsaw Maniac", the titletrack (that has really dark vibes) and the desperate and somehow melancholic "The Fear" (that starts with the clean guitar); and the band knows how to surprise the listeners, playing, for example, a bass solo in "Let Me Be Your Whore" or using some keyboards, which are present occasionally in tracks like the aforementioned "The Fear", giving to them a more gloomy aura. And all this without forgetting some special drum patterns ("special" for every black/speed metal band, at least!) by the drummer Vytas, the newer member of the band since he plays with them since 2017.

As you seen, we are seriously in presence "of three guys that perfectly know they are doing" playing impactful but also well structured songs, that offer even some solutions not so common in the black/speed metal genre, which knew its exploit just few years ago. Hence, I found no real flaws in "Born in the Grave", even though I would suggest to the band to increase the black metal elements because, for the truth, they are especially present only in the last numbers of the album, as "The Fear" and the closing "Return to the Tomb", so there isn't a perfect combination between black metal and speed metal as in the case of bands like the Bonehunter. Said also about a 4-page booklet in which there aren't the complete lyrics of the songs but only some lines of them, I hope that the Regressive will continue their diabolic path since the quality of "Born in the Grave"... and I'm saying this also because they publish nothing on their FB page since May 2020. Where are you, Regressive?

Tracklist:

1 - Join Us
2 - Chainsaw Maniac
3 - The Devil's Daughter
4 - City Under Siege
5 - Born in the Grave
6 - Let Me Be Your Whore
7 - Cults of Death
8 - The Fear
9 - Return to the Tomb

Line-up:

Justas - vocals/bass
Vytenis  - guitars
Vytas - drums

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