Album Review: VHS - I Heard The Suck... Blood
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
Death Metal and horror films, they go together like peanut butter and jam, chilli & cheese, you get the idea. The genre has and will always have a tradition of combining crushing music with tales of horror be it the song themes, artwork direction the use of samples or everything together (I’m looking at you Mortician). VHS are one of those bands who take great joy from being inspired by the films from the 80’s, and the 3 piece have created a new collection of horror inspired death metal for sick horror loving death metal fans to feast upon. This collection of tracks titled 'I Hear They Suck… Blood' you will be shocked to learn concentrates on those creatures of the night known as vampires with all the tracks and samples being linked to the nocturnal terror.
VHS play a very classic style of death metal, in the vein of Carcass, Impetigo, Exhumed etc. with a bit of a thrashy undertone and even some bluesy rock n roll thrown in. So along with the 80’s film inspiration the sound VHS provide is reminiscent of those early years of the death metal genre. VHS have a very fun, very tight & solid sound, I Hear They Suck… Blood is not a flashy sounding record it does not need to compensate lack of creativity with flash, what it gives the listener is a solid collection of well written and performed tracks which are full strong riffs and powerful drumming. The vocals are a mixture of low growls with high screams with fairly audible lyrical content throughout.
If you want straight up death metal, you get it. Songs like 'Horror of Dracula' or 'Martin, Martin' are full on classic old school death metal full of heavy grooves. If you want some unexpected surprises guess what, you get that too. All throughout the album you are greeted with a number of little surprises, songs like 'A Town Called Purgatory' or 'Getting the Band Back Together' which both have some more rock n roll anthem feel to them through the song writing whilst still fitting within the scope of the band’s sound. I Hear They Suck… Blood features a couple of guest vocal appearances in the form of Trevor Strnad of The Black Dahlia Murder who features twice on the record and Dave Ingram of Benediction.
What VHS deliver is a fun and enjoyable death metal record without becoming stupid and childish. I Hear They Suck… Blood is a cool collection tracks with fun movie samples, which will satisfy your need for savage music and horrifying terror.
