Refusal: Epitome of Void (2019)

Recently I was kind of wondering how some of the bands who have previously contacted me through the blog for the purpose of requesting a review have been doing.  One of those such bands was Refusal, a Finnish death/thrash metal band.  I reviewed two of their early releases and was very impressed by them.  Well, it was a good time to check because Refusal just released their second full-length this year.

By and large, Refusal's sound has not changed much over the years.  They still play fast-paced old-school-sounding death metal with a punk/thrash attitude.  The guitars have a similar kind of buzzsaw guitar tone that is closely associated with the Swedish death metal scene of the early 1990's.  In fact, a lot about this sounds Swedish to me.  It is something of a mix between The Crown and Dismember.  There are some damn catchy, grooving riffs present on this thing, something that was common in the band's early demos and EPs. 

The vocals are still very impressive.  The primary vocal style is a deep guttural roar.  But frequently there is more of a high-pitched scream added in for good measure and to keep things varied. 

I always liked this band and wondered how they would do with a full-length album.  It turns out they did quite well.  I am not sure how I missed out on the band's first full-length (as well as a number of other demos and EPs), but I am glad I came back around now to hear this one.  Refusal does not do anything ground-breaking here, but they play some damn fun, rollicking death metal and every single song is quality. 

Reader Submission: Refusal: Grasp

Some time ago, I was asked to review a demo from a Finnish death metal band called Refusal.  It was their fourth demo since the band formed in 2008.  Recently, Tero from Refusal contacted me once again to take a look at their fifth demo.

The first question that pops into my head after listening to this demo is how in the hell has this band not been signed yet?  Seriously, the band already sounded pretty good on their last album and, if anything, they have still improved on this one.

The band's basic formula, which was fully realized on their last demo, has not changed.  This is death metal with something of a punk flair and some serious grooving riffs.  The third track is definitely closer to punk/grind than death metal.  As such, it is not my favorite on the demo.  The other three tracks though more than make up for this minor misstep.

The demo has not changed much overall since the last one.  If anything the band's songwriting has improved, as these songs are even more catchy than they were the last time out.  The strong production values and instrumentation still sound great.

I will close things out on here the same way I started: why has this band not been signed yet?  When do we get a full-length?  Hopefully soon, they deserve it.

Reader Submissions: Refusal: Short on Ammo

I was recently contacted by Tero Pirhonen, guitarist of the Finnish death metal band Refusal, to review their latest demo. So here we are.

Refusal has apparently gone through some changes over the course of the few years they have been active. They began life as a thrash metal band and then slowly began moving into their current direction. Refusal has been surprisingly prolific for such a young band, releasing four demos and a single since 2008. Here's hoping that a full-length is coming soon.

This is heavy and crushing, groove-laden death metal performed with a lot of speed and intensity. There is a lot of energy here, which is good, because the music, while competently played does not really offer anything new. This is not really a problem. This is tried and true death metal, which when played this skillfully always sounds good. Refusal does have something of a punk flair, which probably came about when they started out as a thrash metal band.

The vocals are delivered in a variety of ways, including a death growl and a harsh scream. This is one way to keep the listener interested. It also helps that the demo is a fairly short nine minutes long. They play fast and avoid falling into the trap of playing long and pointless songs.

The sound quality is impressive for a demo. It sounds full and thick and each instrument can be heard clearly.

This is an impressive sounding demo from a young band. With any luck, they will continue to find their own voice and put out a full-length soon.