VALLENFYRE — Splinters (review)

VALLENFYRE — Splinters album cover Album · 2014 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Splinters" is the 2nd full-length studio album by UK death metal act Vallenfyre. The album was released through Century Media Records in May 2014. Vallenfyre is down to a four-piece on "Splinters", as guitarist Mully has jumped ship since the release of "A Fragile King (2011)". The lineup therefore now features lead vocalist/guitarist Gregor Mackintosh (Paradise Lost), guitarist Hamish Glencross (My Dying Bride), drummer Adrian Erlandsson (Paradise Lost, At the Gates, The Haunted, Cradle of Filth...etc.) and bassist Scott (Doom, Alehammer, Extinction of Mankind, Hellkrusher).

Stylistically the music on "Splinters" pretty much continues down the same path as the music on "A Fragile King (2011)". That means old school death metal with some excursions into doom/death territory (like on "Bereft", which sound very much like early Paradise Lost, or "Aghast"). It´s predominantly old school Swedish death metal that I´m reminded of though (especially Dismember), with crushingly heavy buzzing guitars, melancholic and gloomy lead guitar themes, D-beat drumming and some brutal yet intelligible growling vocals in front. Vallenfyre are not a one-trick pony though, and they are pretty successful in varying their riffs and their rhythms throughout the album. Everything from blast beats to D-beats to slow and doomy beats and just about anything else that you would regularly hear on an old school death metal album are represented on this album. So while "Splinters" is through and through an old school death metal album, it´s a pretty diverse one within the boundaries of the genre.

The sound production is massive, brutal and raw, which suits the music perfectly. I never get tired of listening to those buzzing über distorted guitars. Pure early 90s nostalgia right there. The musicianship are solid and the material are well written and effective, so all in all "Splinters" is another great album release by Vallenfyre and along with Bloodbath they are arguably among the elite contemporary retro death metal acts featuring prolific musicians from other acts. The surprise element that was part of listening to "A Fragile King (2011)" when it came out is naturally not there when listening to "Splinters" and probably as a consequence of that, I rate the debut slightly higher than "Splinters", but "Splinters" is still a high quality release by Vallenfyre deserving a 4 star (80%) rating.
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