Swedish death/groove metal band Ravened are back with another nine tracks frilled with heavy riffs, crushing drums and intense, shouted vocals on thei r second full length, the aptly titled The Relentless.
Formed in 2018 in Jönköping, Sweden, Ravened released their debut full length, From the Depths, in 2020. At the time, little information about the band was available outside of two members being related to other musicians in bands like Modest Attraction , Narnia, and Hellfueled, and since then, that situation doesn’t seem to have changed much. For those who missed the first review, the band cites influences of Pantera and Lamb of God among others, and very simply, those influences come through in an obvious manner. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg.
Taking a step back to see how I reviewed From the Depths and making a broad comparison, it seems as if The Relentless has even less variety than From the Depths. Heavy riffs, near blast beat drums, a bit of groove here and there and gruff, barked vocals pretty much describes every song. This album fittingly is relentless in its approach. There is no let up from start to finish and that may appeal to some fans, but for me I found it difficult to differentiate songs. “Intertwined in the Void” is my favorite track on the album with its heavy groove, but many of the other tracks seem to blend together, which may be partially due to the intensity never varying and staying at 100% throughout the album. There is definitely no subtlety or nuance here.
From my point of view the production and mixing didn’t help things out, which is interesting as I called out how good it was on their first album. The guitars come through somewhat muddied making them fall into that “wall of sound” and the vocals have an odd sound to them like some type of effect was added or they were recorded from a distance. From a performance standpoint the riffs are heavy and fast and the rhythm section adds some variety to the songs providing a good low end rumble especially in the groove sections and Isac Wendel does have that ominous, intense shouted delivery the songs need.
Overall, The Relentless seems like a step backward for the band as the tracks blend together. The main criticism I had of their debut was that “it does seem a bit single-minded in focus and more variety in the tracks would have been appreciated,” and The Relentless seems to have even less variety. That being said, this is a 46 minute album as a sophomore effort from a band where many of the songs would put older, more established bands to shame. This is an album filled with heavy, fast riffs, aggressive vocals and a pummeling rhythm section that doesn’t let up, but sometimes variety is a good thing.
Rating: 6/10
Written by John jackson
Tracklist
- C.O.T.G.
- Baneman
- The Relentless
- Intertwined in the Void
- HYPER
- Slice
- Good Game
- Feed the Dragged
- Wretch
Band Members
Isac Wendel – Vocals
Olle Liljegren – Guitar
Willy Eriksson – Guitar
Simon Sahlqvist – Bass
Oliwer Svensson – Drums
Release Date: 9June 2023
Record Label: Independently
Social Media: Website / Facebook / Spotify / Instagram
Albums:
2021: From the Depths (review)
2023: The Relentless
Video for “HYPER”
Video for “Intertwined in the Void”
Video for “The Relentless”