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RAVEN
ExtermiNation

Steamhammer (2015)
Rating: 9/10

Has there ever been a band as consistent as Raven? Apart from Motörhead, I think it’s fair to say that this trio has transcended all trends by way of continuing to churn out no frills hammering heavy metal.

Okay, so they may have had the occasional lull in their career (what band doesn’t?), but Raven is the sort of band that is very much part of heavy metal furniture; a trio which at times we’ve taken for granted due to their immovable sound and vision. Hell, even I’ve been guilty of neglecting some of their releases over the years. Maybe it’s because with Raven you know exactly what you’re going to get, but like a classic film franchise you know you can dip in at any time and continue to be pummelled by their uncompromising brand of rock.

And so we come to ExtermiNation, the band’s 13th full-length studio slab of concrete and their first opus since 2009’s Walk Through Fire. These guys continue to march through the trends and destroy all in their wake; forget glam metal, forget grunge, and forget nu-metal, because Raven ploughs on like a war machine operated by lunatics hell-bent on wasting all those who do not bow down to their command. And so is it really a surprise then that the aptly titled ExtermiNation is another crushing slab of old school metal? Of course not.

Raven occupies the same sort of scrap-metal yard which the likes of Accept have made their home; each record pulverising with sincerity and featuring that deadly duo known as the Gallaghers who make the quibbling Oasis brothers seem like powder-puff puppets in comparison.

John (vocals / bass) and Mark (guitar) refuse to become battle weary – in spite of being in the game since 1974 – and trudge on once again, backed by drumming war-dog Joe Hasselvander who has been part of this plan since 1988. Brave is the soul who steps in the rings with this bunch of veterans who again have come out swingin’ to produce another sizzling, upbeat, catchy and above all simplistically scorching opus which vomits out 15 tracks to trash the bedroom to.

Raven is one of those primitive forces with a no-care, can-do attitude – as reliable as hell and yet not just content with filling up their records with average lumps. ExtermiNation is one of those albums you’ll slap on when you’re pissed off or feeling at a loss with the heavy metal genre, because not only do this terrible trio reinstall faith in the genre they will pump your lungs full of lead, and get your heart beating on a diet of molten steel.

‘Destroy All Monsters’ comes out of the blocks like a cyborg on steroids; it’s rattling speed metal rust mixed with the usual ingredient of traditional metal power. “Exterminate! Exterminate!” barks John Gallagher like a rampant Dalek as his bass rattles like a gargantuan rattlesnake constructed of concrete. His tumult is complimented by Joe Hasselvander’s ravenous drum sound; the sort of thrashing hyper-beast you rarely hear in today’s young thrash upstarts. Raven is very much a beast of its own making that in a sense has no real competition, because just like Motörhead it’s a leviathan that just exists whether we like it or not.

As ‘Destroy All Monsters’ gives way to the wiry guitar solo of Mark Gallagher and Hasselvander’s plods of doom on ‘Tomorrow’, we can only fall prey to John Gallagher’s yawn of “I told them, I showed them”. But there’s an unexpected melody too with a killer chorus – Raven showing Megadeth how to move into the current climate but still combine clever, cutting edge thrash with sneering heavy rock.

And as we follow the Gallagher brothers into their lair of swirling propellers and gnashing jaws, we can only stand and admire what they’ve created once again as ‘It’s Not What You Got’ comes rockin’ hard with a steady prodding drum and words of ferocity; “They tried to tell me this ain’t working, I wouldn’t listen – was on a mission”. And that pretty much sums up the belligerent attitude and nature of Raven’s latest; a well-crafted, raging, seething, reliable and most importantly timeless cranked up shard of metal which fits firmly up the arse of the sceptics.

If ever there was a band to walk hand in hand with Motörhead into war it’s Raven, because as the leads come fizzing out of ‘Fight’ one can only marvel at another catchy mid-tempo groove before the chug-metal march of ‘Battle March / Tank Treads (The Blood Runs Red)’, bringing with it a quintessentially British stomp and speed metal hostility combined.

Raven remains lethal in whichever path it takes; John Gallagher’s vocals always bubbling with malice in order to work in cohorts with the latest steaming riff, frothing bass-line and hammering drum. The fabulous ‘Feeding The Monster’ is the ideal symbol to sum up Raven’s high-octane delivery; “Undeniable, indescribable”, spits John Gallagher, adding, “Unpredictable, unforgettable, Indivisibly, electricity, Perfect symmetry synchronicity” amidst a tirade of tumbling drums. Meanwhile, ‘Fire Burns Within’ comes nodding like a grizzly steel beast breathing fire and the words “No one knows where it’s from, No one can know where it’s been, But it’s the air we breathe”, to add to its already enchanting malice.

ExtermiNation refuses to throw in any fillers in spite of running for more than hour, and with the likes of ‘Scream’ we should appreciate some of the complexity of melody too, which also comes to the forefront with the cascading ‘One More Day’. And then if we’re eager for another lump of battering-ram precision then we just have to succumb to the trouncing prowess of ‘No Surrender’ and the deadly ‘Silver Bullet’. When John Gallagher warns on the latter that “You can’t stop a tidal wave”, one can only grab the sturdiest surf board and leap into Raven’s latest upsurge and become one with the blood, sweat and tears; once again excreted to make this a relentless heavy metal record.

Neil Arnold

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