Ektomorf - Retribution

Published February 04 2014

*=Staff's pick	You Can't Control Me Ten Plagues Face Your Fear Escape Who The Fuck Are You Numb And Sick* Lost And Destroyed* Souls Of Fire I Hate You* Watch Me Mass Ignorance Save Me Whisper* Collapsed Bridge

Genre	Heavy Metal/Thrash Metal	Zoltán Farkas	Vocals
Tracks	14	Zoltán Farkas	Guitar
Running time	45 Min.	Tomi Schrottner	Guitar
Label	AFM Records	Zsabolcs Murvai	Bass
Release	31 January 2014	Robert Jaksa	Drums
Country	Hungary	-	Keyboard
Producer	Tue Madsen
Similar artists	---

Hungarian heavy metal with evident elements of thrash metal that contains loads of heavy riffs and outward aggressiveness seems like a creation set for instant success. Yet it took some dedication to get this creature going and when I was about to see this just as something semi-decent, the album's diversity and range suddenly stroke me. At first the songs never seemed to leave a rather inert slumber and the somewhat distorted sound picture that covers and almost overflows the entire disc made me think that this album was kind of similar all through.

When I finally passed that point, I saw this record as balanced and in fact well varied. The fun begins when the band reaches out to search for new horizons and takes the songs from safe territory to a higher state. My first greater impressions actually landed when Cristian Machado of Ill Niño enters for a few vocal lines in Numb And Sick and when Farkas change direction with a sort of ballad-like verse for Lost And Destroyed. This momentum continues with Souls Of Fire and its two-minute intro and frenzied ending and also with I Hate You that shows doom metal shadows weaved in to connect with the grinding image.

I never find myself in a state where the music engulfs me to a point near monumental rapture, but I still think this is a pretty solid release. They don't get stuck in their own footprints or within definite frames, resulting in some key elements to hit sharp targets. The closing stage of Whisper is just awesome and when finishing this forty-five minute deal off with a true ballad called Collapsed Bridge, my day is made. Farkas doesn't own the right pronunciation or a beautiful voice for this matter, but still he pulls this shit off somehow.

To my ears, the first third of Retribution misleads me to believe that Ektomorf doesn't have what it takes to generate a good record. Given what I just stated, my best suggestion would be to give this one a fair chance, although things don't break through right away. When all things weigh in eventually, I see this as a rather enjoyable release with a few songs that should have been opted out to expose a stronger outcome.

See also review of: Aggressor , Black Flag , Instinct

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	5	5	5	6

Summary
6 chalices of 10 - Tobbe