Oppressing the Mind (With One Fracture in the Road)
My huge expectations has increased doubly since the
title and front cover have been published by the band. Even if Roadhog isn’t a
mainstream giant (in future, who the hell knows that?), the debut impressed me
a lot stealing my dreams very often and still ripping the empty silence in my
world. That’s true I’m a slave to such songs as „Poison Man” or „Dead of the
Night”, many times I just catch myself singing those choruses in many various
situations. Yes, „Dreamstealer” was a blast. And still is.
With that in my mind I proceeded to „The Oppressors”. Again
under the banner of Stormspell Records, again with drawing attention front
cover (this broody busty lady has a haircut similar to Pemo, hasn’t she?). But
this time Olof Wikstrand has been replaced by Cederick Forsberg as a sound
engineer. And if compared to the debut, the sound realization is given in much
modern way, not being any kind of fault to the whole: it is just great keeping
the things all audible. So, the main question from my point of view appears:
did they give me a better album? Well, let’s see, the beginning couldn’t be
better, with even more power and speed comparing to „Liar”, „Fall from Grace”
simply cuts my head down. Somehow it touches speed stylistics in early Agent
Steel vein: it is fast, crushing, neck-breaking, firing totally effective riffs
to the crowd. And however the song isn’t any sign of genre changing, another
„Fight It Back”should be a concert firecracker as well, just like a closing
track, simple and riffs mesmerizing. But as I wrote, the speedy madness isn’t
an oppressing key here and the rest is maintained in rather mid tempo.
The first half is absolutely fine. We have energetic
„The Fear” with very catchy bridge and chorus becoming another highlight next
to the mentioned duo (however great leads starting at 2:50 and lasting till
4:00 turn the title into „The Bliss”, which is kind of accidental paradox,
don’t you think?); we have very slow „Suffer in Silence” and faster a bit
„Black Moon” which is probably the best one in family, being just a great
tribute to Heavy Load, with surprising intro, mysterious and eerie, definitely something
new for the band. A heavy killer, indeed! And the title song ends the first half,
„The Oppressors” sound really promising. But the number six belongs to
„Children of the Dark” and… something broke in the machine. Those fully
balladic 4:32 minutes are the only controversial tunes here, that’s true I did
not expect to hear the highlight like „Children of the Damned” or „Watch the
Children Pray”, ‘cause it’s impossible I guess. Something was wrong here and originally
I gave it many very careful meetings. What’s more, during listening to the
whole album, „Children of the Dark” got more chances than others. With a
booklet in my hands or with closed eyes. Thinking about using of children choir
and pretty nice guitar leads. About powerless Krzysztof vocals and unnatural
keyboards in the background. And concerning the final opinion, the song sticks
out absolutely, however it’s not the thing I hated it, but it feels so damn out
of place here. For a single release as an additional one? Maybe, but this time
Roadhog has just failed…
…and luckily „Fight It Back” has woken me from the sonic
torpor and brought the band on the right road. Don’t know their intentions but
this song is like a balance weight and it works here splendidly. The rest
doesn’t bring any confusing surprises, only the stuff I’d like to listen to, it’s
worthy to notice completely untypical guitar lead in „Set the World on Fire”
(no, it’s not the cover song) or the next track that reminds me a bit about
„Annihilator” song from „King of the Kill” album. Then, „(Don’t) Follow Them”,
a highlight from last year Ep, and the album is ended by „All Hell's Breaking
Loose”. And yes, the track list has been done right now. What about the vocal
lines, the underbelly from the debut? When I consider the music itself, the
whole idea and performance, lyrics, front cover, production-wise and general
heavy metal spirit, Roadhog machine is Premier League level using football
terminology. In turn, Krzysztof endeavours are in Championship yet, with Fulham
attitude during this season with two wins, five draws and two defeats by the
end of the third week of September. It’s nothing extraordinary, just a solid
work. His Polish accent is still distinguishable, there are really good moments
opressing the mind (in fast songs, especially) and there are moments that need
to be improved (mostly in slower parts).
If I am in the kingdom of maths, my final mark is a
bit lower as compared to the bestial stealers of dreams, yet I cannot write
about any letdown. When one song is skipped,
„The Oppressors” provide ten equal heavy metal shots served in a way it should
be executed. Generally speaking, the band matures, it’s not the highest offer
yet and I’m sure the musicians know that. But with such a potential, the future
looks really auspiciously, don’t it?
82/100
-Tlacaxipehualiztli
(written in September, 2017)
