‘Tis a cool concept for a split – two bands
that actually don’tsound like each other, Landmine Marathon continuing in their rumbling, primitive (lots of Bolt Thrower) approach to crusty death metal, while Scarecrow surprisingly emerges as the long-lost son of Forbidden. Interesting.
For Landmine Marathon, vocalist Grace Perry’s throat-scraping provide a vitriolic front for the three numbers included – “Skin From Skull,” “Rise with the Tide” and “Changing Addictions.” LM’s innate rawness and penchant utter brutality over technicality is easy to latch onto – just check out the cool crawl of “Rise With the Tide” for further proof.
On the flipside, Scarecrow (fronted by former (?) Exhumed mainman Matt Harvey) come forth with some thrashy numbers without the insincere bells and whistles that accompany so many new throwback thrash bands. With a thin, trebly production, Scarecrow’s three songs have stocked with swift, agile riffs (especially in “Scum Also Rises”), sweet, melodic solos (think old Kirk Hammett) and Harvey’s surprisingly versatile vocal approach that is both discernable and memorable. Quite the change from his Exhumed days, obviously.
A highly recommended split, both Landmine Marathon and Scarecrow offer up something for everyone and in a rare moment, stayed firmly entrenched in yours truly’s CD player, a device that sees more turnover that the Oakland Raiders coaching staff.
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)