Albums•November 29, 2011•8,591 views

Frightener Guillotine

01. Depress 02. Smokescreen 03. Acheron 04. Daedelus 05. Black Rain 06. Guillotine 07. Fall Of Delphi 08. Violent Graves 09. Murderous Numbers 10. Heretic 11. Bedlam 12. Legion 13. Lifespite

2007 Chainsaw Safety Records

Our score 4

by Aaris King

12/21/2007

Frightener bring absolutely nothing new to the table. What should be a marketable poster band for Chainsaw Safety, they've combined elements of Celebrity Murders, Pulling Teeth and Splitting Headache, trimmed the fat, leveled it off and tried to cover their tracks with poor blast-beats. And as if that weren't obvious enough, they are currently boasting a split with said latest Deathwish signees Pulling Teeth, which in the presence of Guillotine is proving to be their heyday. Something most recently done by Premonitions of War with Left in Kowloon, Guillotine is a controlled outlet of rushed hardcore. It's in your face and appropriately ugly, but the only fear evoked is thinking you've somehow been here before. None of it felt inspired, although all members mingled their down-tuned sounds well and at least forced some body from the flat collective. They also did manage that somewhat respectable deal with Chainsaw Safety, so it's worth hoping there's still growth in their bones. But for now, Frightener have a formula and they're stickin' to it. It works best on "Black Rain," which is first to reach a pace that finally commands your attention, and reminds one of a less frantic Plague Bringer track. But when "Fall of Delphi" and "Violent Graves" soon follow suit, the excitement is promptly forgotten. The title track sounds something akin to a Khanate song in triple-time with its limited arsenal of chords and shallow foundation. An extremely weak sound clip with accompanying metal squeals is also featured, leaving me curiously pissed off about whatever purpose the entire song meant to serve. All other tracks were kept under three minutes, which if this were their Left in Kowloon, makes "Guillotine" look like Frightener's sad attempt at a "Black Den." The back half of the album mirrors the first, mechanical vocals (a connection to famed British kin Bolt Thrower seemed necessary, but none could be made) and bland instrumentation barely held together by unoriginal fills and overplayed toms. They did actually edge out some interesting guitar work, mainly on "Acheron" where things were slowed down to work out some mood metal, which unfortunately goes nowhere, before returning to the fold. Other tracks also slipped in minor epic undertones, but the majority is ultimately insignificant. Bottom Line: There is a niche of party-thrash metalheads that Frightener play to very well, but beyond that it's best to just keep Realm of Chaos in your rotation until Relapse supergroup Birds of Prey release their follow-up. Guillotine was completely predictable, a regrettable qualification of the genre, and won't be gratifying listeners any time soon.

27 comments

Post Comment

john grant_ 12/21/2007 4:20:05 PM

first post

Frightener Guillotine

27 comments

Related Links

Top News This Week