Band: Ferocity
Album: The Hegemon
Label: Immigrant Species Records
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Danish death metal group Ferocity released their 3rd full length record, The Hegemon, on March 13th through Immigrant Species Records. The lyrical content is very much about war, as the album cover nods at, and is heavy as hell.
The definition of the word hegemon is something that has major power in the world. My guess is that the hegemon Ferocity is referencing in the lyrics would be, plain and simply, war. The theme of war is throughout the record, speaking of a not too distant future, when the all too likely outcome of shoddily handled politics will result in the eradication of humankind.
The writing process for this record was a long one, starting back in 2012! Guitarist Allan Poulsen states, “This time we wrote many more tracks than usual but discarded a lot of them along the way. The style found on the new album “THE HEGEMON” is both brutal and melodic death metal. The development from previous album “The Sovereign” to “THE HEGEMON” can be described as a refining and maturing of Ferocity’s style. We’ve been working on contrast between the tracks, so they each stand out. We also tried to incorporate melodic passages to create a certain sonic atmosphere”.
The music itself is brutal and hits you like a sledgehammer... Or a GAU-19, if we want to keep the theme of war going. The riffs, seeming frantic and chaotic at first listen, are well thought out and tend to lean more towards a progressive aspect than just pure bedlam. The closest artists I could see Ferocity reminding myself of would be acts like Aborted or Kronos with a mixture of Julien Truchan's (Benighted) vocal style.
From the opening track of "Reminiscence Of A Tyrant" to the closer "Trembling The Gates Of Treason," Ferocity prove that they, like wine, have grown better with age. The years of writing and scratching songs have honed all their rage and talent into an inflamed record. Tracks that are highlights for me would be "Feeding the Hatred Flame," "Embracing the Endtimes," Reminiscence of a Tyrant" and "The Silent Agitation." If you're a fan of the genre, I highly recommend giving this a listen.
I'm giving The Hegemon a 8.5/10
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