Who knew Ireland had a metal scene? Not me, that's for damn sure. Then again, you could fill volumes with what I don't know about other countries. After coming up through the local ranks fairly quickly, SCAVENGER have signed to Ireland's metal label, Sentinel Records, and have just released Madness To Our Method.
In all honesty, this is one of the better metal discs from an indie band I've heard in a while. The songwriting brings to mind Ride The Lightning-era METALLICA, OVERKILL and IRON MAIDEN; long intros, strong riffs, and double kick drums grace every track. Singer Peter Dunne has a good range too; he can hit the higher ranges in "Storm Warning" and growl like a pit bull (almost) in "Daydreams in Dystopia". The strongest track, in my opinion is "On The Outside"; there's a breakdown about 6 1/2 minutes in that'll make you want to kick a hole in the wall, it's so brutal.
My one beef is with the production. It sounds muddy. The guitars could be much crisper and so could the drums. The vocals cut through well, but the disc almost sounds like it's being played in the room next door, it's so muffled.
Image-wise, they don't look like a heavy metal band. Before I saw the photo on the back of the CD sleeve, I was expecting to see a bunch of long-haired knuckleheads in leather chaps. Scavenger looks like a bunch of short-haired, working class guys in jeans you might see in any bar on any given night of the week.
I don't know if there's much of a market for Scavenger in the U.S., because no one's really promoting this type of old school metal over here. Overseas these guys will make money. Audiences are much more stable in Europe and Asia, and I could see Scavenger having some success internationally.
If you're nostalgic for some of that old-school metal, here's a group of guys from Ireland doing it better than anyone I've listened to in a long time.
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