Hold on tight, you are in for one hell of a ride!
'The Great Depression', which was released on 6th April 2009, is Trigger the Bloodshed’s follow-up album to their debut, 'Purgation'.
The Bath-based grindcore/death metal band, made up of teenagers Jonny Burgan (vocals), Rob Purnell (lead guitar), Martyn Evans (guitar), Dave Purnell (bass guitar) and Max Blunos (drums), are going from strength to strength, having played gigs with metal genre giants such as Napalm Death, The Architects and Soulfly to name but a few!
Good old-fashioned anger music is the name of the game; a game that Trigger the Bloodshed play incredibly well! The new album is an explosion of sound from the very first beat. 'The Great Depression', 'The Scouring Impurity' and 'The Infliction of Tophet' are by far the best, most memorable tracks on the CD.
The album starts as it means to go on; mind-blowing metal, the power of which took my breath away. Trigger the Bloodshed deliver aggressive rock music on each track that easily rivals well established metal genre bands such as Bullet For My Valentine and Narcosis. The incredible vocals switch from deep growling to blood-curdling screaming with absolutely no warning, keeping listeners on their toes. Jonny Burgan definitely has his own unique sound, which perfectly complements Trigger’s originality.
The songs on the first half of the album are dominated by the vocals, leaving the instrumentalists somewhat overshadowed, thundering away in the background. Disappointingly, by the middle of the album this does become a little uninspiring. The vocals are superb, the melodies intricate and the bassline bludgeoning, but I didn’t feel that I was hearing anything different to the earlier tracks; each seemed to merge into the other. However, this all changes from 'Dessicate Earth' onwards where the guitarists take a bigger role, playing exciting solos, wowing the listener with their collective ability. Extremely intricate tight melodies, the building of suspense prior to the return of Jonny’s hellraising vocals... the effects are mind-blowing! 'The Infliction of Tophet' and 'Disfigured Anonymity' in particular stood out in this respect. The hairs on my arms were stood on end; impressed doesn’t come close. These guys are incredibly talented.
Trigger the Bloodshed definitely have a bright future ahead of them in the death metal scene and I hope I have the opportunity to hear them live on their forthcoming UK and European tour.
Not a band to be missed, they are definitely worth a listen. But hold on tight as you are in for one hell of a ride.