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Review: 'I, The Betrayer'
'7 (EP)'   

-  Label: 'Darkspawn Records'
-  Genre: 'Heavy Metal' -  Release Date: '5th June 2017'

Our Rating:
Norwegian metallers I, The Betrayer are pitched as being for fans of Volbeat, Anthrax, and Soilwork. Unfortunately for me, and perhaps I should be embarrassed by my ignorance, but as I’m unfamiliar with any of these touchstones, the pitch doesn’t help me in the slightest. At least there’s no danger of me making unfavourable comparisons.

The imaginatively-titled ‘7’ contains seven songs. They’re all dominated by the hefty guitar chuggery you’d likely expect from a Norwegian metal band, but the vocals are clean and melodic for the most part. It’s not unpleasant, but for those of us accustomed to stuff that’s so much harder, it perhaps feels a little tame.

Not that the guitar breaks are in any way tame, and across the course of the EP, they do demonstrate a rare range: ‘Conformity’ begins gently and builds atmosphere with a picked guitar before the rhythm section and power chords slam in full-throttle. The six-minute ‘Creatures of Hate’ ventures into more experimental territory, a dark spoken word narrative crackling out over an exploratory, low-slung bassline and spacious lead guitar work that drifts ahead of the arrival of a tempestuous low-end churn.

It’s the range of ‘7’ which is its strength: appraising the set critically, some songs are stronger and more successful than others, and while they do perhaps work better when mining the heavier seams, I, The Betrayer demonstrate an ability to mix it up and create multi-faceted songs in unexpected and unusual ways.

I, The Betrayer Online

  author: Christopher Nosnibor

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I, The Betrayer - 7 (EP)