Tracklist:-
1. Credulity
2. Selfish Ride
3. Conformity
4. Humanity
5. Creatures Of Hate
6. Boaster
I've been a bit out of touch with modern Norwegian metal. From a country that has black metal ingrained within it's DNA, it's often hard to find something that appeals to a wider audience. Alongside The Hate Colony from Trondheim, maybe this quintet can help to put Norway back on a par with Sweden in the modern metal stakes. I The Betrayer formed back in 2014 and "7" is their debut EP. It was only released on Monday, so it's very fresh indeed.
I The Betrayer presents a very melodic take on metal, with opening track Credulity featuring grooving riffs, a mix of both clean and occasionally harsh vocals and plenty of volume. It’s catchy but definitely has gritty edge to it as well, with a lot of sludge-like atmosphere and progressive touches. Selfish Ride begins with a rather bizarre “Quack Quack” but the song itself is anything but silly. Chris Wiborg’s clean vocals take a bit of time to hit the sweet the spot but once they do, both him and the whole band steam roll through the song with plenty of power. The laid-back intro to Conformity is a nice change of pace, prior to I The Betrayer’s own version of melodic thrash, which is pretty damn good. They’re certainly doing their best to bridge the gap that attracts hard rock fans across to heavier music. They channel their inner Opeth on Humanity and they don’t do a bad job, especially if you consider Opeth’s more recent output. It’s a little more straightforward but well put together and very listenable, with the extra playing time lending itself to a bit of grandiosity from the guitars. They proceed in the same vein with Creatures Of Hate and they give it a bit of a sci-fi/thriller twist with spoke-word lyrics bemoaning the human race. It’s aggressive and brings to mind nu-metal at times. EP closer Boaster is the right track for “7” to end on. It’s got loads of impact and it’s high tempo is responsible for that. The vocal melodies are really good and the driving riffs during the verses carry are more than equal to the percussion. The solo’s pretty good too. Overall, this is a decent effort for a debut EP and I The Betrayer has a lot going for them. As they hit more stages and build on their sound, they’ll be sure to grow. Good job.
You can stream "7" and buy it digitally and on CD directly from the band below:-
I The Betrayer - https://www.facebook.com/ithebetrayerr/
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