Vomitor vocalist guitarist Death Dealer and former drummer Big Lee Griffiths have split their time on a black thrash metal band called Spear of Longinus. Metal Archives has their lyrical themes listed as religion, philosophy, hatred and national socialism. Album titles for this band include …and the Swastikalotus and Nazi Occult Metal so go figure. They are either taking the piss or they are totally serious while being unintentionally hilarious. I still don’t get why Australian bands get so deep into this truculent subject. Too many kangaroos perverting the purity of the race, maybe? Are their wives cheating with koala bears?
Regardless, there has got to be something totally un-racist and open minded about Vomitor. After all, their crazed and desperate sound seems to take a big gulp from brown satanic bands like the kings of carioca blasphemy Sarcofago and other Cogumelo acts like Vulcano and why not, early Sepultura.
But in Devil’s Poison (their second full-length after a string of releases) what surprises the most is not their musical style but the guitar sound which unfortunately resembles the vibrant buzz emitted by an electric razor. In this day and age, there is no need for this. Anyone with a low budget can achieve better sounding guitars than this so the logical conclusion is this was done on purpose. As a way to achieve a vintage sound. It’s not unlistenable, but if I was bassist Anton Vomit I’d be pissed. After all, Vomitor have gone all …And Justice for All on his ass and have buried his work in the middle of somebody’s shave.
To stay in character Death Dealer abuses the tremolo, peppering the songs with high pitch laser and riffs that sound like he just learned the basics of 80’s heavy metal. Some of the riffs are incredibly simple and simple can be good but in the case of a few of these it doesn’t. The main riff in “Caligula” for instance is generic and the sloppy gallop in the title track has been written a hundred times by minor bands. Also, DD adopts a vocal style that’s whispered in “Saga of the Rage” and jumpy and echoey in “Flesh for Satan”. It’s quite wicked to be honest with you and makes me think of I.N.R.I.
Does these all mean that Vomitor suck? No. Not at all. Devil’s Poison is a fun listen. It is endearing, charming and captivating. It has been done a thousand times, but oh well. It’s obviously retro and there is nothing wrong with that. Especially if you dig the oldies, Vomitor sounds just about right.
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