Thrash, bang, wallop!
Now what our hard rocking friends from Denmark are missing here is a good old fashioned 80's power ballad! There is nothing whatsoever from the packaging on this cd, nor to the band photograph that suggests love and happiness, in fact these guys are the epitome of the coined phrase, "Angry young men that need a hug!" The notes on the CD suggest that the band are, "Straining at the leash, barely keeping their enthusiasm in check..." well that is indeed one way of putting it.
From the outset you can tell that this is going to be a brutal thrash metal album and first song 'Too Strong for the Strongest Lord' doesn't disappoint. With fast and frantic guitar riffs and drumming likened to that of a hyperactive child after a barrel full of jelly babies, we then have the addition of growling vocals to add the proverbial cherry on top. We have more of the same on 'This Great Summer', which as far as I could tell mentioned nothing about long walks in meadows with their best girl, or frolicking in the sea with their buddies!
Title track 'The Inhuman Aberration' has better usage of the keyboards to add mood and there is a nod towards earlier Sepultura mixed with Rammstein to give slow-grinding guitars. There are flashes of the same in 'Open The Gates' which almost leans towards hardcore with thrash riffs gate-crashed in.
Although the formula doesn't deviate from the ferocious path too much and there are slight comparisons to the likes of Darkane or The Haunted, Urkraft add to the mix a layered sound that is slightly more thoughtful, just like in 'Come No Tomorrow'. We have some of the scariest growling this side of Death Metal over some fantastic guitar work again in 'Watch Your Own Eyes'. There is a great mixture of it all in last song 'The Pressure Of Our Jaws' which sums up Urkraft beautifully- if at all that word should ever be used in the same breath as this band!
I am by no means an expert in this genre, and at times it does come across like a big thumping lump of noise, however the riff work throughout the album is top notch and the drummer must have arms like a gorilla to keep banging out those beats, so for these reasons only it might be worth checking these guys out. Maybe.