Time Signature Polish samurai metal...

Genre: groove/thrash metal

Hanzo is a metal band from Poland who are so inspired by Japanese history and culture that they have named themselves after a famous bushi, and most of their lyrics deal with samurai history and myth. ”Rising” is their first release and offers crushingly heavy metal.

Most of the tracks on the release evolve around crushingly heavy riffage, as the band embrace a 90s-inspired post-thrash sound with a slight touch of 90s hardcore influence (which, like thrash metal, also went down a more groov alley in the 90s). This is particularly reflected in the vocal style. An example of the heaviness is the coda-breakdown of 'Open' – oh, and, yes, there are many heavy breakdowns on the release, but haters be assured that we are not talking metalcore-styled breakdowns here. A characteristic of Hanzo's sound is repetition of simple, but chrushing riffage, and this would undoubtedly not be everybody's cup of tea, but, if you are into 90s post-thrash, then chances are you will enjoy this release. Hanzo do insert uptempo elements into most of their songs, which ensure a sense of dynamics and ups the aggression a notch.

Musically, it is quite obvious that the Hanzo guys know exactly what they are doing, and I am sure that the 90s post-thrash sound is something they have deliberately aimed at. The performance is very tight – in particular Przemek Warchał's heavy beats and use of toms. Sadly, I think this release suffers imensely from an unbalanced production. The guitars sound very dirty, which is not a problem, but they are mostly panned to the right (at least on the version I have) – or rather, the guitar in the right side is much louder than the one in the left side, which creates a very thin sound. The bass is audible, but because the right guitar is so loud, the bass never manages to provide the bottom which is otherwise so crucial to this type of music.

Overall, fans of crushingly heavy post-thrash who do not mind a slightly dirty production should defintiely give this samurai-inspired riff-fest.