In all walks of life, there are leaders and followers. Whilst Ektomorf are undoubtedly one of the leaders of the Hungarian metal scene, widening the scope reveals them to be followers of Max Cavalera. The riffing style, the lyrical approach, the vocal intonations… I’m sure few would argue that mainman Zoltán Farkas owes a depth of gratitude to the Brazilian legend’s music; particularly the nu-groove-thrash trifecta that Cavalera has been doing since Sepultura’s 1996’s horribly overrated ‘classic’ Roots. Farkas remains the one constant through Ektomorf’s ever changing line up, and as the heartbeat of the group, guides his new charges through their latest record, Fury.
At times, it can be difficult not to be swayed by preconceptions about a band, and I admittedly went into this record expecting to hear a Soulfly knock off. The song titles did little to sway me from the notion, and as I dove in to the album, the music I was greeted with confirmed the hunch. But originality isn’t the be all end all of music, and I was more interested in hearing if the music was any good, rather than if it broke any new ground for Ektomorf. And in this regard, my thoughts are much more positive. Fury sets out its stall from the off, and achieves what it aims to do, blistering your ear drums with ten tightly written tracks over the course of 34 minutes. The guitar tone is crisp, clear, and ruthlessly heavy, rendering the lack of bass in the mix a non issue. The short, sharp snap of the snare is also superb, giving every hit that little added vigour to propel each song forward. The Cavalera cadence is rife in Farkas’ vocals, but by this point that is par for the course as far as Ektomorf are concerned.
“The Prophet of Doom” opens things with a sonic blitzkrieg; a basic thrasher that makes up for its lack of originality with pure, visceral energy. “AK 47” slows the pace a little and shows a bit more intricacy, completing a storming opening one-two combo. The next three songs are all built around simple, bouncy grooves designed to get heads banging and mosh pits jumping, before “Infernal Warfare” gets the maelstrom swiftly moving again with another thrashing firebomb. “Tears of Christ” is the slowest song, and at a few seconds over four minutes, is also the longest. It chugs along steadily like Sepultura classic “Territory”, with a churning chorus riff and a wah infused, Kisser style solo interspersed with atmospheric breaks. The smothering riff of “If You’re Willing to Die” also slithers along slowly, with occasional triplet chugs interjected throughout to break things up. The relentless “Skin Them Alive” veers closely to death thrash, as does “Blood for Blood”’s blast beat ridden bridge; an oddly placed instrumental passage in an otherwise nu metal number, replete with syncopated, three note riffs. What’s even more odd is that it doesn’t sound out of place, but given the number of albums Farkas has under his belt, it shouldn’t be a surprise.
With Fury, and Ektomorf in general, what you’ll get is what you go in expecting. There’s little progression shown from their Soulfly-lite sound, but they’ve trimmed any and all fat to deliver one the most concise records of their career. At a little over half an hour in length, fans of groove / thrash are advised to give this one a shot.
Rating:
Highlights: “AK 47”, “Tears of Christ”, “If You’re Willing to Die”
Find Ektomorf online here:
Fury is available worldwide on February 16th via AFM Records, and can be purchased here.
