Album Review: AxeWound - 'Vultures'

What do we have here? Another metal supergroup, ey? Rightio. Seems like a bit of a trend right now, but whatever, let’s give them a go. A quick background check reveals AxeWound features members of Bullet For My Valentine, Cancer Bats, Glamour Of The Kill, Rise To Remain and Pitchshifter. Throw them all together and the results have got to be half decent, right? Well, not really.

Like all supergroups, AxeWound will garner plenty of attention based solely on their lineup. Fans of each member’s respective band will likely buy this album without so much as a second thought. Indeed, when it comes to supergroups like AxeWound there’s a tendency for the masses to be blinded by past accolades of those involved, overlooking what these types of collaborations are a majority of the time: a gimmick.

Okay, so even if AxeWound have the best intentions in mind when it comes to their music, Vultures is still a painfully mundane listen. You’ve heard this all before. Their take on contemporary metalcore is nothing new by any stretch of the imagination, but that’s not to say that it’s all complete shit either.

The overriding problem with the debut album from AxeWound is that it’s predictable. You can read every twist and turn of Vultures like a Google maps street directory. If you want to throw on something and know exactly what you’re going to get, then by all means, go ahead and give Vultures a thrashing. These guys have studied The Guide To Writing Generic Metalcore #101 closely: there are plenty of breakdowns (including the comically slow one that rounds out 'Post Apocalyptic Party'), pitch harmonics and recycled riffs straight outta the Dimebag Darrell handbook, harmonised singing during choruses ('Cold'), and some dramatic keys thrown in there for good measure ('Collide').

While generic in approach and execution, there are some redeeming qualities scatted throughout Vultures. 'Exochrist' is catchy enough and the title-track features some slick harmonic soloing courtesy of Avenged Sevenfold's Synyster Gates (guess who grew up worshipping at the altar of Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth?). Meanwhile, closer 'Church of Nothing' has some funky prog rock vibes going on. Again, it’s cool, but it’s still more a homage to the glory days of the ‘80s than anything innovative. If you want to listen to decent thrash without cringe-worthy lyrics like 'fuck me, fuck you, fuck everything' or 'going to drink your fucking blood, it’s time for you to fucking die', then go and listen to Master of Puppets-era Metallica, and not this.

This is the kind of metalcore that department stores will be happy to stock on their shelves: it’s safe, generic unit-shifter stuff. Kids who don’t know shit about fuck when it comes to metal will lap this up, and that’s fine. Whatever floats your boat.

1. Vultures

2. Post Apocalyptic Party

3. Victim Of The System

4. Cold

5. Burn Alive

6. Exochrist

7. Collide

8. Destroy

9. Blood Money And Lies

10. Church Of Nothing