RATBREED – Evoke The Blaze

Evoke The Blaze, the debut album from Finland’s Ratbreed, features eight originals and, on the digital version, a well-turned cover of Warlock’s “I Rule The Ruins”. Warlock is a band they clearly revere, with vocalist Jasmin Anglen evoking not only the blaze but also Doro Pesch’s sound and phrasing in many passages on this very solid Metal album. Ratbreed is no clone band, though. Kicking off with the thrashy “Escape From The Asylum”, they charge ahead with a frill-free twin guitar assault that sounds hits with a seventies tone but played at an eighties speed—a combination that manages to make Ratbreed sound contemporary. “Hunting High, Reaping Low” follows, galloping from verse to verse into a slower but no less exciting chorus.

The rhythm section is interesting; drummer Mikko Toivonen likes Clive Burr-esque cymbal rides and incorporates a lot of bell work in his playing. ”Gates Of The Underworld”, one of the best tracks on the album, builds around a fat riff that sounds like it could have come off Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All”, but also incorporates a whirling dervish bridge and solo, as well as some fretwork from bassist Lauri Palmunen. “Unhallowed Sleep” is another winner; as is “Mad World”, with only the last original, “Through The Flames” coming across as a stock Metal number, more plodding and with less dynamic thrust the preceding tracks—at least until the midpoint solos, where Mikko Kaipainen and Markus Taipale cut loose. Evoke The Blaze is worth repeated listens, sure to add some heat to the summer.

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