Vampire – Cimmerian Shade (Century Media)
Sunday, 20th September 2015
Vampire’s self-titled Century Media debut was a fresh breath of retro air last year. Veering much more in the black and thrash directions than the oh so typical Stockholm route, Vampire was a breakneck effort in some timeless, blackened thrash that worked because of the power of the riffs. Now we sit moving towards the end of 2015 and the band has decided to grace us with a few tidbits to tide us over until their next full-length.
Cimmerian Shade contains only three songs and an instrumental, so take it for what it’s worth. If you liked what the band had put forward on their last album, you’ll enjoy these tracks just as much. The riffs are just as energetic and march forward, still providing the band’s most effective weapon. Not one of the three songs lacks in catchy riffs, though “Hexahedron” seems to be coming up the winner right now for its spiraling and headbang-inducing fretwork. The instrumental, “Sleeper in the Deep,” is an atmospheric and melancholic piece that the band would do well to balance inside a few tracks in the future (much like they do with the opening to “Night Hunter”). Therein lies the main difference between the tracks on Vampire versus Cimmerian Shade: there’s a more epic and grand feeling that creeps its way into the songs, allowing them to be a little more effective and memorable.
While it’s more of a teaser than anything else, Cimmerian Shade is sure to get Vampire fans excited for the next full-length. In and out in 15-minutes, there’s plenty of reasons to crank this one a few times on repeat for a while. Short, sweet, and a good reminder of why Vampire is worth looking into.
