ALBUM REVIEW: Orchard of Corpses – Bloodyard
Forming back in 2010, BLOODYARD have developed a solid reputation within the Northern English scene as a ferocious and powerful death metal act. Combining a great, classic death metal sound with a few more modern flourishes, they have garnered a small but respectable reputation, mainly off the back of their excellent live shows and their first two EP’s, Set to Fall and Darker Rage, which laid down some incredible foundations for the band BLOODYARD and their music. The band’s debut full length, Orchard of Corpses, comes over 5 years since their last release, and proves to be a great debut album.
Blood Begets Blood is an incredibly strong opener with some great, chunky guitar riffs and a solid drum sound that is firmly rooted in a classic US death metal sound. The vocals that accompany the music, fierce and caustic, provide a great counterpoint to the dense quality of the music, making for an intense and impressive start to the record. Mortem carries the tar thick, groove-laden guitars forward, making for song with some brilliant, juggernaut hooks that, when coupled with the more aggressive, guttural approach of the vocals, make for a powerful piece music. Rupture the Mask provides a short, sharp shock of feral, rhythmic death metal with a great, sludgy bass sound that has crushing, acerbic side to it, with the vocals opting for a much more rabid, monstrous delivery, which helps to give this song an even more savage feel that it’s hard not to love. It may only be just over two minutes long, but it leaves an indelible impression on the album.
Orchard of Corpses sees the vocals return to the higher registers, with imaginative guitars and more precise drumming producing a razor sharp, driven sound that makes it instantly memorable. It’s got a great Thrash undercurrent to it as well, which adds a sense of urgency to the music and gives everything a much meatier sound, making this an early album highlight. All Hail the Crimson King, with it’s robust, chugging guitars and full throttle drums, is one of the albums heavier affairs, with the more subdued, but nonetheless vicious, guitars allowing the vocals to come to the fore and inject plenty of hooks of their own into this music, giving this particular song a slightly different sound than the ones that came before it. Stack the Pyre sees some dark melodies and disjointed elements creep into the sound, with the monolithic Thrash elements once again playing a key role in making the music sound more visceral and driven. It’s a great slab of thrash inflected death metal with a massive sound that rages through the middle of this record like a tank.
Choke, another brief yet brilliant number, and the albums shortest track, is arguably the most ferocious and chaotic track on the whole album, with dizzying, jarring guitars and sudden time changes, interwoven with bellicose, hellish vocal passages, making for a demented and muscular offering. Purge the Rot utilises some excellent, catchy guitars and eclectic vocals that shift seamlessly from primal growls to shrill shrieks, giving this a great sound from start to finish. Antithesis brings the album to a close with a huge, epic mid-paced song that makes great use of minimalist, rhythm focused guitar hooks and a solid, steady drum beat that acts as the perfect backdrop to what are perhaps the most impassioned and aggressive vocals on the whole record. It’s a track that gradually gathers momentum, incorporating more elements, from slick, soaring guitar parts, a more prominent bass hook and a short spoken word section towards the songs end, making this the most experimental offering on the album, and bringing everything to a close extremely well.
Orchard of Corpses is a strong debut with lots of fantastic musicianship, from the adventurous riffs and authoritative drumming to the monstrous vocals, each helping to make this music all the more memorable. It’s hard to not get caught up in this music, with many of the songs combining a tight, old school sound with a modern production, making for some incredibly catchy and powerful death metal at many points. It may have taken BLOODYARD years to finally release a full length, but this album is more than worth the lengthy wait.
Rating: 7/10
Orchard of Corpses is set for release May 1st via self release.
Like BLOODYARD on Facebook.