Vampire - Vampire (2014)

Vampire is one of those obvious-monikered sorts of bands that comes around every few years and then offers a refreshing 'reset' on the style that they perform, almost like they've gone back to the basics, stripped away a lot of the distractions and bad trajectories that other bands have gone down, and then throttle fucking ass. Like a Ghost. Or Midnight. In the case of these Swedes, they exist on a crossroads of the black/thrash niche that has become so popular again in these last 10-15 years, and the more traditional Swede black metal penchants for great melodies. Even  beyond that, they offer a bit more of a horror-influenced mindset through their wicked note choices and occasional atmospheric relishes, and the lyrics, all of which live up quite well to their name and artwork.

All three of their full-lengths to date, as well as their Cimmerian Shade EP, have been wonderful, but it's the eponymous debut which remains my favorite due to the songwriting, and just the realization that dawned on me when listening through this that something great was happening. In fact, I recall writing about this one already for my friend's Codex Obscurum dead-tree zine under my human name, but it bears revisiting because it's a really awesome rush of these concepts. Whip-nasty riffing force glazed in eerily melodic little guitars and dissonant hooks dominates much of the material like "Howl from the Coffin", and here they do fall under some familiar patterns, but it's all the little details that matter, like the wildly different breakdowns in that particular song, which came at me totally unexpected. The raucous vocals here are absolutely wild, on the surface an uncaring rasp, but the mix of it with the reverb and sustained lines are absolutely perfect. These guys manage to pay tribute to all of the acts that formed their sound, from Hellhammer to Venom to the German thrash titans, but they splash on an added coat of vile, blackened paint.

All the songs are great, but my personal favorite in their entire canon is "The Fen", which begins will chilly acoustics and atmosphere that makes you feel like you're out on a moor under the moonlight, and then just erupts into some incredible 80s Slayer or Possessed-worthy riffing, and then this drudging little break which feels like you're repeatedly getting struck by some bog mummy with a hammer. This is just awesome horror metal all around because it actually sounds threatening, rather than just merely talking the talk. The song titles are also just incredible..."Ungodly Warlock"? "Cellar Grave Vampire"? "Jaws of the Unknown"? "At Midnight I'll Posses Your Corpse"? Everything fits to the music so thematically. Interestingly enough, while this is an excellent album (and so are its successors), I still feel like there's a good room for growth...not every lick is as catchy or evil as it could be, and I can only imagine how impressive it will be if they rise to that challenge. Fantastic debut that I enjoyed to begin with, but has definitely grown on me since I reviewed it that last time. If you're into any of the awesome current wave of death/thrash or black/thrash coming out of both sides of the pond, or even if you find yourself stuck in the 90s Swedish black metal, you want this. You do!

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://vampiretheband.bandcamp.com/music

Vampire - Rex (2020)

Vampire has been one of the more consistent Swedish extreme metal acts of the last decade, and they've got a pretty broad sound which can be seen as a successor to not only classic melodic black metal from that scene (Dissection) but also to the blackened/thrash legacy of a group like Nifelheim. And I wouldn't even limit them within those very parameters, because they've sort of developed a style of their own that is equally nestled between the black, death/thrash and black/thrash niches and provides them a lot of potential riffing attacks form many attention. Having said that, their third full-length Rex definitely leans mostly into the blackened thrash aesthetics, a hard hitting rhythmic undercurrent that is balanced off by a lot of excellent melodic guitars over the top. This one didn't give me the immediate thrills of their eponymous debut, but after a half dozen spins it's proven to be yet another excellent offering in their catalogue.

This is riff-fucking-tastic from the starts, with loads of faster paced guitars that structurally resemble a lot of what you hear from many of the frilly, evil, post-Venom sorts of groups. Take something like a Craven Idol or Deathhammer, but then focus in on the more extreme ends of those, barbaric riffing meant to roll over you like a...reaper on horseback!? But then take all that business, and add the complex and furious layers of memorable melodies that defined so much of Swedish metal of the 90s...be it the black metal end of the spectrum, melodic death, you name it. Beyond that, they also have a penchant for throwing in some tasteful and minimalistic synths right where it counts to elevate the black heart of the music to the next level. Rex is a beast from fore to aft, shifting between volatile, fast scathing numbers like the title track, or some more moderately-paced neck jerkers like "Pandemoni" which they spice up with rapid fills and dissonant little effects to add a layer of cinematic intensity. The musicianship is top notch, although I think it's really gotta be the guitars and light touches of synths that put this one over the threshold.

Vocals are a great, loud hybrid between a bark and rasp, almost similar to a Tribulation only matched up with the far more furious, thrashing music. They work especially well when they're barked out and sustained over the more shifting, ominous patterns as in "Moloch", but it's a top notch performance on every line across the record, spitting all kinds of horror/occult themed lyrics that you want from a band with the Vampire moniker. The production here is just right, kind of timeless and washed out rather than too punchy or bright or polished, and it just foments the perfect atmosphere for this level of grace-threaded violence. If you're a fan of bands like Nifelheim, Bewitched, or Swordmaster who were blowing up a bit in the 90s Swedish underground, this band is the most natural successor to much that they strove for, and in my opinion even more effective. Rex is their most purely punishing record to date, even if it's not quite my favorite, but it's the sort of aggressive/atmospheric mix that will sound just as good today as it's going to in a decade. Don't sleep on this. 

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://vampiretheband.bandcamp.com/music

Vampire - With Primeval Force (2017)

You only need a few minutes into "Knights of the Burning Crypt" to realize that With Primeval Force is truth in advertising, a more furious entry into the Vampire canon than the band's eponymous debut, and a purist continuation of the Swedish savagery of their 90s black metal scene, both the more brutal based style like Marduk, Sacramentum or Lord Belial, and the more thrashing side of things. That's not to say that this is a band to ever blast away monotonously, it's more that they carry forward the carnal riffing patterns, often somewhat predictable but still impressive just by the sheer force and consistency. But what places this band beyond that is their excellent use of atmosphere and melody to create such a well-rounded set of tunes that really bring honor to the album format.

There's also a nice influence from Germanic thrash here which becomes more obvious in a cut like "He Who Speaks" reminiscent of Kreator, and a lot of speed metal too inherent in the "Metamorfosis" riffing. Vampire is such a total package that they don't let a track pass without a few essential melodies and really ripping, excellent leads that bring to mind any number of heavy metal or thrash influences ranging from Mercyful Fate to Destruction. All of these wide array of inspirations are unified beneath the carnal and incredible rasping of Hand of Doom, and those little segues and moments of horror atmosphere that they first introduced on their debut, but are inserted expertly into the tunes like at the end of "Metamorfosis" with its acoustics and ghostly keys, or the synth and reverb that inaugurates the "Initiation Rite". The drumming is likewise excellent, just as strong as most of the rest of the mighty Swedish legacy acts, with strong double-kick, good fills and a nice natural mix that balances out against the more raw, vile power of the guitars.

With Primeval Force is certainly more of a beastly attack than the debut, yet it doesn't lose much by way of songwriting or intricacy, it's just excellently written music that services its black, thrash, and heavy metal components somewhat equally. If Dissection were more into horror movies, this might have been what they sounded like, and if that's not enough to tempt you into trying these albums I don't know what will. Metal music is such an embarrassment of riches these days that a band like this, which should be on the lips and in the ears of a vast swath of fandom, is just not one I hear spoken of much at all beyond those who are really into the mighty swell black/thrash emergent in the last decade. Vampire is on point, two points that will sink smoothly into your fucking neck. Invite them in.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] 

https://vampiretheband.bandcamp.com/music

Vampire - Cimmerian Shade EP (2015)

I am not a vinyl collector. I've got a stack of old records from back in my youth, and a couple I've gotten through the years, or sent for review, but the CD is my format of choice, and things like the Cimmerian Shade 10" EP are some of the few reasons I regret that. Yes, I'm aware that this was available on a special tour edition of the debut, but I'm stuck with my normal copy of that disc, and a digital of Cimmerian Shade. So be it, but obviousy, you can already tell that I think this is fucking awesome, in fact a few of the tunes on this are among my favorite by Vampire, and that's saying a lot because the band is tremendous, and has yet to fail me in any regard, except for the arguable failure of not having an exclusive CD version of the EP for schlubs like this one...

Not as savage as the albums to follow it, but extremely compelling, melodic black metal ("Pyre of the Harvest Queen") that rages down much of the same roots, while the 'B' side tracks "Night Hunter" and "Hexahedron" are scorching examples of the band's more blackened/thrash, just nasty ass metal that blitzes on past you and leaves you branded with some catchy licks among chords powered by the classics like Hellhammer, Bathory, Venom, Slayer, and their ilk; only with that melodic black stuff mixed in there to make them even more multi-faceted. The instrumental "Sleeper in the Deep" is the odd one out here, a tranquil blend of ambient and acoustic guitars which is totally 'fine', but that's a crime when its matched up with all the rest of these songs. Cimmerian Shade is fantastic and played out like a quick and delicious notification that their excellent eponymous debut was not just going to prove a fluke. Curse you, vinyl collectors! By which I mean 'pity me'. :(

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://vampiretheband.bandcamp.com/music

Miasmal/Vampire - Split EP (2014)

Miasmal and Vampire seem like a natural team up for a split 7". Both are Swedish, both are melodic and aggressive, and both are pretty good, although I'm not sure I'd place the former in quite the same class as the latter. But I certainly dig the Miasmal s/t and their later albums, and the potential for these two on Century Media was immense, and hopefully it still is, but we haven't heard from Miasmal in some years. I admit that I was most interested in this for "The Night It Came Out of the Grave", an exclusive Vampire track which is quite awesome and more in their blackened thrash vein, with heavy overtures of Slayer in the rhythm guitars and a bit more of a wicked rawness than their full-length albums, but mostly within the same wheelhouse and quite a good song, though I can appreciate that they'd cast it out for a collector's item like this one. The lead in particular is awesome, and the cool Hellhammer-groove breakdown at the end.

The Miasmal tune is also somewhat fun, propelled by the band's Entombed d-beat influence and then some riffs that rip forth at a faster, more lethal pacing, but it's not nearly as interesting for me because it does kind of blend in with so many other bands of this variety and doesn't do much to distinguish itself, whereas the other side of the 7" is much more fresh and evil. Still, "Queen of a Poisoned Realm" has some great leads in it and it doesn't wear out its welcome, but I prefer a lot of the tunes on their full-lengths to this one. All told, it's nice that these are exclusive tracks to this release, it has some value for collectors, and any chance to hear another Vampire track is a welcome one, over the last seven years they've grown into one of my favorite Swedish exports.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.facebook.com/miasmal

https://vampiretheband.bandcamp.com/music