Azriel
A Will Of Fire
Thirty Days Of Night Records

by Hugh Platt

Azriel are a perfectly competent band. They can knock out riffs that chug and growl as dangerous as a rusty chainsaw. They litter their album with diamond-sharp nuggets of old-skool fretwork. In the form of David Murray, they’ve got a vocalist who bellows like sea monster clearing its throat. They tick all those necessary boxes on the “melodic hardcore” checklist.

But what they don’t have yet, is a tick for the last question of the checksheet – that all-important question: what makes you stand out in this already overpopulated genre?

Murray’s vocals lack a unique spark to set them apart from his peers, rarely leaving his comfortable mid-range growl that you’ll have heard bellow out the throat of a hundred other hardcore frontmen.

While Azriel can tear through riffs so furious it could incite a riot at a Buddhist retreat, such as the spiky breakdowns in ‘Seasick’, all too often the guitars become just another rolling rumble of gruffness – nothing more than a hunger pang in Satan’s belly.

It’s not melodic enough to grab those who like their hardcore buttered that way, but that melodic edge is prevalent enough to alienate anyone who likes it more ferocious. A Will Of Fire just doesn’t have that “are-you-looking-at-me?” sonic headbutt of contemporaries like Bring Me The Horizon.

At times this album roars like a bear that’s just been hit by a taser – but frequently it just barks like an Alsatian startled by fireworks. At first it might seem feral and dangerous, but after looking closer, the noise and bluster seems to be just a front for a lack of clear direction.

3/6

A Will Of Fire by Azriel is out now on Thirty Days Of Night Records