ALBUM REVIEW: Vs The World – Poison The Preacher
Who doesn’t love a modern spin on a tried-and-true formula? Colombian metallers POISON THE PREACHER is a band made up of four lifelong friends from their nation’s capital who have set out to meld the high speed, technical prowess of thrash metal with the raw power and emotive drive of hardcore music. With a little death metal influence thrown in for good measure. The band had already been making waves in and around Latin America and beyond, and now with the backing of Seek & Strike it seems that they are about to turn things up to a whole new level. With the band’s debut full length album Vs The World the mission statement from the Bogota natives is clear.
From the very opening notes of Sucker Punch the audience gets to see exactly what POISON THE PREACHER is about. The heavy, down picked riffs of guitarists Juan Camilo and guitarist/vocalist Juan Pablo sound like they were taken straight from the 1980s thrash metal playbook. With bassist Thomas Lopez and drummer Sergio Cortez holding down the rhythm section to create the solid foundation required for that Bay-area sound. The surprise inclusion of Dead Heat’s own Chris Ramos is something of a coup for an up-and-coming band and seems to be a real nod of approval from the scene in of itself.
The following track Dying Every Day is where we see the band really start to hit their stride. The tempo is dialled way up, and everything sounds far more aggressive. The guitar solos are wailing, the double bass is thumping, and the swagger is there as the vocals of Devin Swank (from the death metal band SANGUISUGABOGG) and Ramos trade off over the top of the madness. This song is great fun and can be a real showstopper when the band hit the road, especially the crushing breakdown in the latter stages.
Perhaps the most enticing thing about Vs The World is the party atmosphere that comes through in the songs. Don’t get confused. This is fast aggressive music, but in the same way that MUNICIPAL WASTE have always done, there is a real sense of fun and punk energy that is brought to proceedings. 1312 has a superb two-step section in the latter stages, which then leads into a screaming solo and then into another heavy breakdown. There is just no room here to get bored for even a moment.
One of the highlights of the album comes from the track Congelado en el Tiempo (Frozen in Time in English). The track starts with some traditional sounding drums, giving a whole new flavour to things and once again showing another side to the band, embracing the traditional music of their Colombian heritage before jumping straight into a catchy punk riff, that forces you to headbang whether you want to or not. The rest of the song then reverts to the thrash sound that the band have made their own to keep the party going.
One Man Army has to be one of the heaviest tracks on the entire album. With a heavily muted guitar riff and GOJIRA-esque pick scrapes providing the kind of riff that will get listeners pulling that face. The temporary of the song js a little slower than the others, but with the rumbling bass and booming drums laying the foundation and one of the slowest, heaviest breakdowns the band have penned so far it proves to be one of the most exciting. Showing that the boys have plenty of tricks up their collective sleeves and are far more than just a one trick pony when it comes to their songwriting.
The closing track and albums name sake is another slab of groove-laiden metal. Once again complete with knuckle dragging, palm muted riffs and dive bombs aplenty. By this point of the album you know exactly what to expect from the lads and that a plethora of heavily distorted riffs, high energy and more breakdowns than you can count. And that is the beauty of it all. You won’t find a myriad of surprises on a POISON THE PREACHER album, but when they do what they do so well, do you really need to?
Rating: 8/10
Vs The World is out now via Seek & Strike.
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