PILGRIMZ – Boar Riders

When hearing Pilgrimz, one can just think about a brutal and rough version of some Blink 182 style of Punk Rock bands that take too much airtime on MTV. Pilgrimz are not a serious group when you talk about their themes. Also you can line them up with many other Metalcore groups with the same sound / production and the same anger, which here is not a real channeled anger because they make a lot of nonsense throughout the album.

The Danish guys from Copenhagen began in 1998 playing casual Metalcore like various American bands. Two years after their arrival they brought out their first EP, Good Day Mr. President , that showed that they are more humoristic than critics or body bashing thugs. In 2003 they sent out another EP which is named The Caravan Was The Only Bait. In 2008 ,with their signing at I Scream Records , the group recorded and released its first album, Boar Riders, which will introduce you to a state of the art / kick in your face production , that is mostly common in today’s Modern Metal acts.

The music of the Pilgrimz is not something that you have not heard before – groovy and melodic Metalcore. If you like Killswitch Engage, late Soilwork and In Flames, Heaven Shall Burn and As I Lay Dying, then this one’s for you. But the problem is that the songs , although there are some tidy bangers, are just not thrilling even with the bombastic production which is a real ass kicker.

There are talents in the band like the dominant vocalist, Max, who has a powerful voice. When hearing him scream, it is unknown if it’s a growl or a whine but he’s doing it good both ways. The guitarist, Aage, is a straight forward shooter and produces various grooves and punching riffs. Bassist Hermann is the only one in this whole production that remains mostly behind Aage and covers him up to create this powerful sound of rhythm. Drummer Nal is an amazing drummer with versatile ability on the double bass and creates interesting paces.

It is somewhat sad that this talented group can’t produce something more original or more controversial than this release. These guys are in for the kill but how many kills can you make from the same single shot. Boar Riders gives away nice tunes with power but most of the songs’ content are shadowed by a good production and nothing more.

“Jimmy’s Castle” is the first solid tune that gets you through the gate of Boar Riders with a breaking speed and high-pitched growly vocals and groovy vocals. Through its middle the song shifts to a low gear and provides a smashing kick down that goes all through the end.

“Boar Riders” is the heaviest track around. It begins with an In Flames style of riffs and continues with the same nuance of Metalcoric melody and screeching vocals. In the middle of the song there is a nice quiet Punky offering of a low distorted tune until it falls back to some serious palm muting of Heavy Metal. This song, in regards to the vocals, is terrible, but musically it suffices.

“The Flick” is another heavy number with various speed parts and a short break of melody with the screams of Max. There isn’t anything special about this one but it still produces some nice grooves. “Prima Donnie’ is a funny tune about a person who thinks he’s living a dream or on another planet. Although the song is a single kick down with the same riff. The only thing that changes are the lyrics. Max gives quite a show here and performs with greatness. The bad part is that, why does the song have to last for 6 minutes? For a tune that has nothing in it really happening, it is too much to bear.

“Paramount” is like the others with a catchy chorus and the same riffs repeatedly. The closing, “The Artillery”, shows some signals of hope in most of its play time but turns out to be the same deal of Metalcore charm. It has the speed, a nice chorus , grooves from hell but it’s been done already.

The fact that was mentioned earlier , remains. The Pilgrimz are talented folks but they are not really using it. You can always make stuff like the other bands but in the spirit of their music, be influenced by it, and not do the same stuff with identical riffs. Many bands today make their music in the spirit of their idols , some of them copy parts and some of them break through with their influences to make something more that the Metal world hasn’t heard before. The Pilgrimz should be one of these groups because most of the Metalcore artists keep on repeating themselves with the same mega productions but with nothing more.