With a freshly inked deal with Metal Blade, Hellenic horde Ravencult – seasoned veterans who mastered their craft playing with Greek forefathers Varathron and Thou Art Lord – are slowly drifting away from their blackened thrash roots towards a more straightforward and harsher sounding thrash metal assault. That’s thanks in part to a new vocalist whose style is more akin to the barking rants of modern hardcore and metalcore than the sawdust-throated black metal rasp of former vocalist Linos. Force Of Profanation also boasts a slick production and a collection of more scrupulously developed compositions of gritty thrash violence than shown on previous works.
This may be an effort to attract a wider audience, but it’s also a move that may also alienate older fans seeking a continuation towards blacker depths. It’s an album truly reflects the abilities of a band that have outgrown the limitations of black metal and are now seeking a more rewarding and broader sound more, akin to recent Deströyer 666 than the lo-fi underbelly and regulations of the underground.
