Bull Riff Stampede - Another perspective...
Bull-Riff Stampede ‘Scatter The Ground’ Album Review
Bull-Riff Stampede are a metal band from the UK, who have played shows with bands such as Sepultura, Sylosis and Evile.
The first song from ‘Scatter The Ground’ is ‘Central Embodiment of Evil’, and the heavy riffs instantly blow you away. Dave Garnett’s vocals are heavy and powerful, matching the technical guitaring and head-bang worthy riffs. ‘Bled To Arena’ has an incredibly impressive guitar solo and proves how unique thrash metal can be. The instrumental song ‘Raze’ fully demonstrates that Bull-Riff Stampede is full of talented musicians. ‘My Worst Nightmare’ is one of the best tracks on the album, due to the fantastic fusion elements of both melodic and thrash metal, making it unique and outstanding. The chugging guitaring in ‘Mask Of Five Skulls’ makes it energetic and it’s easy to imagine a crowd going wild to this song when it’s performed live. Dave Garnett’s rough vocals are emphasised extremely well on this track by the horror-filled lyrics. ‘Advance and Conquer’ has a more melodic metal opening, but the rest of the song is filled with a heavy and energetic pace. ‘Thrashing Machine’ is a perfect example of a thrash metal song and the fast-paced guitaring makes this song very impressive. Impressive guitar solos are definitely a strong point for Bull-Riff Stampede, as is perfectly demonstrated in ‘No Regrets’. ‘Ten’ is a very heavy metal song, full of anger and a strong passion for metal music. The opening scream in ‘Pit March’ is incredible, proving that Dave Garnett’s vocals are very versatile and every song on ‘Scatter The Ground’ sounds different. The last song is ‘Solace’, which is a very slow-paced instrumental song.
Following their amazing debut album ‘Scatter The Ground’, four-piece thrash metal band Bull-Riff Stampede have started working on their second album, ‘Enrage The Beast’, which will be released in November 2013.
Bull-Riff Stampede have been announced to play Hammerfest this month, as well as heading out on a UK tour with Beholder in May and they’re set to play Wacken Open Air festival in August.
Check out Bull-Riff Stampede here: http://www.facebook.com/bullriffstampedebandpage
Words: Julia Conopo
Bull-Riff Stampede are a metal band from the UK, who have played shows with bands such as Sepultura, Sylosis and Evile.
The first song from ‘Scatter The Ground’ is ‘Central Embodiment of Evil’, and the heavy riffs instantly blow you away. Dave Garnett’s vocals are heavy and powerful, matching the technical guitaring and head-bang worthy riffs. ‘Bled To Arena’ has an incredibly impressive guitar solo and proves how unique thrash metal can be. The instrumental song ‘Raze’ fully demonstrates that Bull-Riff Stampede is full of talented musicians. ‘My Worst Nightmare’ is one of the best tracks on the album, due to the fantastic fusion elements of both melodic and thrash metal, making it unique and outstanding. The chugging guitaring in ‘Mask Of Five Skulls’ makes it energetic and it’s easy to imagine a crowd going wild to this song when it’s performed live. Dave Garnett’s rough vocals are emphasised extremely well on this track by the horror-filled lyrics. ‘Advance and Conquer’ has a more melodic metal opening, but the rest of the song is filled with a heavy and energetic pace. ‘Thrashing Machine’ is a perfect example of a thrash metal song and the fast-paced guitaring makes this song very impressive. Impressive guitar solos are definitely a strong point for Bull-Riff Stampede, as is perfectly demonstrated in ‘No Regrets’. ‘Ten’ is a very heavy metal song, full of anger and a strong passion for metal music. The opening scream in ‘Pit March’ is incredible, proving that Dave Garnett’s vocals are very versatile and every song on ‘Scatter The Ground’ sounds different. The last song is ‘Solace’, which is a very slow-paced instrumental song.
Following their amazing debut album ‘Scatter The Ground’, four-piece thrash metal band Bull-Riff Stampede have started working on their second album, ‘Enrage The Beast’, which will be released in November 2013.
Bull-Riff Stampede have been announced to play Hammerfest this month, as well as heading out on a UK tour with Beholder in May and they’re set to play Wacken Open Air festival in August.
Check out Bull-Riff Stampede here: http://www.facebook.com/bullriffstampedebandpage
Words: Julia Conopo
Bull Riff Stampede
We were recently sent through details of the new album, Scatter The Ground, from metal unit Bull Riff Stampede, a thrash metal outfit formed by former Blaze Bayley guitarist, Jay Walsh. Featuring members from both the UK and Italy who have already shared stages with the likes of Anthrax, Sabaton, Amon Amarth and Sikth, these guys are already turning heads and getting a name for themselves. Add in some slots alongside the likes of Sepultura, Evile and a slot at Download – and I was looking forward to seeing what was in store with the album!
Opening with Central Embodiment of Evil there’s one thing clear from the off, these guys mean business! Opening with a hammering riff accompanied by some pounding drums, we’re soon launched into a rolling mix of drums, roaring vocals, hammering guitars and rumbling bass – it’s a hell of a sound. Sounding akin to the likes of In Flames at times, I love the hard hitting sound which these guys have gone for, and it’s only the first track! Thrashing Machine continues this idea, this time opening with dramatic sound effects of a blood bath in progress before demonstrating once again why they’ve achieved what they have in their short time together. Powerful, fast and based firmly in the thrash side of things, this is a no holds barred assault on your ear drums from start to finish, showing that when speed and distortion are combined there’s no stopping it! More intense than the first track, this one soon grabs your attention once again and pulls you along for the ride, keeping things moving and making sure you’re not missing a single second of the heavy sound.
Moving into Bled To Arena the mood seems to shift from the fast and intense approach to a slower and more doom orientated riff, this time creating a darkened sense of foreboding which once again, lures you in to listen to the track. Chunky riffs abound throughout the track as the drums set the pace, the over all sense of darkness continuing to grow throughout and keeping you intrigued as to what’s going to come next. Raze continues this approach and once again, raises the bar for what a band are capable of doing. Heavy and intricate, the melodic mastery of the band flows throughout this track and keeps you guessing as to how the track is going to progress, keeping you on your toes so that you don’t become complacent. As you listen to this track make sure you listen to everything that’s going on, as when you break the mix apart there’s so many elements incorporated into the sound that it’s impossible to know where to start. This technical ability is part of the appeal here I think, showing that heavy doesn’t have to be noise, it can be incredibly well put together at the same time.
My Worst Nightmare, Mask Of Five Skulls, Advance And Conquer and Minotaur all continue the heavy and unrelenting approach of the album, but it’s No Regrets that stands out as a serious high point on the album once again. Launching you into the track and getting things moving from the word go, this is another track which has combined the hard hitting approach with a sense of melody and done it perfection. Somehow crafting a track which is insanely heavy from start to finish, the band seem to have also added in a sense that you could see this and chant along with them on the live scene, showing straight away why they’ve been picked for the shows they’ve done as simply, this is music made for the stage. Ten matches this idea once again and straight away shows that a spot of rolling bass drumming is going to get things moving in big, violent circles. Groove orientated throughout, this track on the album once again has that sound which is going to find its true power on the live scene, whipping crowds into a frenzy and converting everyone to the sounds of Bull Riff Stampede from the off.
Pit March is another serious high point on the album, once again taking a track, adding in the bands ability to pull heavy out of the air and throwing down into a track which is surely going to create some of the biggest pits ever seen. Powerful, fast, intense and distorted, this penultimate track on the album stands out as one which is going to divide fans into two groups – the people who want to go and see them live, and the people who are too scared. Closing with Solace there’s a marked change to the album for the final moments, opening with a Spanish style guitar line and demonstrating that sometimes, a real sense of melody can do all of the talking that’s needed. The softness of this track comes as somewhat of a shock after the album up to this point, almost allowing you a moment to calm down after the sheer power you’ve borne witness to for the previous 11 tracks. Despite this shock to the system, the musical mastery on display once again shows that this is going to be a band not to underestimate, the sort of band who could well have a very, very bright future in front of them.
When I first saw the words ‘Blaze Bayley’ on the review when it came in, I was expecting some Iron Maiden/NWOBHM style stuff from these guys, so when I read the press release about Thrash I was more than a little confused! Now, having heard the album, personally, I think the band are underselling themselves with their thrash tag, as I think you’ve got way more than that in this album. From start to finish the band take you on a journey, presenting you with tracks which are insanely heavy, but incredibly well produced and written, resulting in a sound which is heavy yes, but is also technical and clever. If you’re looking for a band that you can simply listen to then in all likeliness, Bull Riff Stampede aren’t for you, but if you like music which makes you think, like I do, then you simply have to check them out – awesome.
To find out more about Bull Riff Stampede, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Check out their video to Thrashing Machine below!
Words: Dave Nicholls
Opening with Central Embodiment of Evil there’s one thing clear from the off, these guys mean business! Opening with a hammering riff accompanied by some pounding drums, we’re soon launched into a rolling mix of drums, roaring vocals, hammering guitars and rumbling bass – it’s a hell of a sound. Sounding akin to the likes of In Flames at times, I love the hard hitting sound which these guys have gone for, and it’s only the first track! Thrashing Machine continues this idea, this time opening with dramatic sound effects of a blood bath in progress before demonstrating once again why they’ve achieved what they have in their short time together. Powerful, fast and based firmly in the thrash side of things, this is a no holds barred assault on your ear drums from start to finish, showing that when speed and distortion are combined there’s no stopping it! More intense than the first track, this one soon grabs your attention once again and pulls you along for the ride, keeping things moving and making sure you’re not missing a single second of the heavy sound.
Moving into Bled To Arena the mood seems to shift from the fast and intense approach to a slower and more doom orientated riff, this time creating a darkened sense of foreboding which once again, lures you in to listen to the track. Chunky riffs abound throughout the track as the drums set the pace, the over all sense of darkness continuing to grow throughout and keeping you intrigued as to what’s going to come next. Raze continues this approach and once again, raises the bar for what a band are capable of doing. Heavy and intricate, the melodic mastery of the band flows throughout this track and keeps you guessing as to how the track is going to progress, keeping you on your toes so that you don’t become complacent. As you listen to this track make sure you listen to everything that’s going on, as when you break the mix apart there’s so many elements incorporated into the sound that it’s impossible to know where to start. This technical ability is part of the appeal here I think, showing that heavy doesn’t have to be noise, it can be incredibly well put together at the same time.
My Worst Nightmare, Mask Of Five Skulls, Advance And Conquer and Minotaur all continue the heavy and unrelenting approach of the album, but it’s No Regrets that stands out as a serious high point on the album once again. Launching you into the track and getting things moving from the word go, this is another track which has combined the hard hitting approach with a sense of melody and done it perfection. Somehow crafting a track which is insanely heavy from start to finish, the band seem to have also added in a sense that you could see this and chant along with them on the live scene, showing straight away why they’ve been picked for the shows they’ve done as simply, this is music made for the stage. Ten matches this idea once again and straight away shows that a spot of rolling bass drumming is going to get things moving in big, violent circles. Groove orientated throughout, this track on the album once again has that sound which is going to find its true power on the live scene, whipping crowds into a frenzy and converting everyone to the sounds of Bull Riff Stampede from the off.
Pit March is another serious high point on the album, once again taking a track, adding in the bands ability to pull heavy out of the air and throwing down into a track which is surely going to create some of the biggest pits ever seen. Powerful, fast, intense and distorted, this penultimate track on the album stands out as one which is going to divide fans into two groups – the people who want to go and see them live, and the people who are too scared. Closing with Solace there’s a marked change to the album for the final moments, opening with a Spanish style guitar line and demonstrating that sometimes, a real sense of melody can do all of the talking that’s needed. The softness of this track comes as somewhat of a shock after the album up to this point, almost allowing you a moment to calm down after the sheer power you’ve borne witness to for the previous 11 tracks. Despite this shock to the system, the musical mastery on display once again shows that this is going to be a band not to underestimate, the sort of band who could well have a very, very bright future in front of them.
When I first saw the words ‘Blaze Bayley’ on the review when it came in, I was expecting some Iron Maiden/NWOBHM style stuff from these guys, so when I read the press release about Thrash I was more than a little confused! Now, having heard the album, personally, I think the band are underselling themselves with their thrash tag, as I think you’ve got way more than that in this album. From start to finish the band take you on a journey, presenting you with tracks which are insanely heavy, but incredibly well produced and written, resulting in a sound which is heavy yes, but is also technical and clever. If you’re looking for a band that you can simply listen to then in all likeliness, Bull Riff Stampede aren’t for you, but if you like music which makes you think, like I do, then you simply have to check them out – awesome.
To find out more about Bull Riff Stampede, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Check out their video to Thrashing Machine below!
Words: Dave Nicholls