Album Review: Ripped to Shreds - 劇變 (Jubian)
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
Straight outta San Jose, California comes Ripped To Shreds. The band who are signed to Relapse Records are set to unleash a new arsenal of material titled 劇變 (Jubian). The band who I feel will certainly get lumped into the modern OSDM revival style, may just be here to show that you can keep that sound fresh and not just offer a copy and paste version of a number of classic bands and other acts currently on the circuit.
This record is a straight up monster right from the start. No long introduction, no messing about, it goes straight for the throat and pretty much stays there for 36 minutes with an assault of pure battery. It is a razor sharp start as the band whip up a fury of modern but classic styled death metal which reminds me of early Death & Morbid Angel. The guitars sound huge and they have an extreme intensity and they are utterly crushing. The drums are full of fury as they ravage through, the kick drums could level buildings, they sound that massive and the vocals are pure demonic as they flow between a deep growl and horrific high pitched shriek. 劇變 (Jubian) is much more than a OSDM revival record, where that traditional style is most present during its run length, Ripped To Shreds do offer more of a severe and violent tone within their song writing and structure.
At points the band even bring some more thrash styled riffs into the mix, and being from the Bay Area you can certainly hear the sound of Exodus and Testament within the riff style and composition but they ensure savage and brutal feel to the track is not lost. The thrash sound is an element very seldom found within the record but it certainly works extremely well when presented to the listener. The cherry on top of 劇變 (Jubian) is certainly its 10 and a half minute number 獨孤九劍 日月神教第三節 (In Solitude - Sun Moon Holy Cult Pt 3), which is an unrelenting display of blasts, catchy groove and really cool and fantastic lead work and a nice touch of melody thrown in. The track has such a great flow I didn’t feel as if the run length had any form of drag to it.
What an album, from the opening it really hooked me and drew me in. The song writing is really solid and the whole record sounds fantastic. As much as death metal fans will really enjoy it, I do think this could be very accessible for people who are not necessarily massive death metal fans, but most importantly Ripped To Shreds have not offered a toned down style to achieve this effect it is simply the work of solid musicianship.
