Review: TAUNTED - 9 Sins

TAUNTED - 9 Sins

(Mausoleum Records, 2013)
 

In late February of 2013, Mausoleum Records published an album I was looking forward to for quite some time - Taunted’s „9 Sins”. Among the reasons behind the long wait was the lack of possibility to record with Henry Moreno, their drummer, because of his move away from Bay Area. In the end, Taunted recorded the new album with Larry Howe, known very well in the metal underground for his tenure with Vicious Rumors.

I’d expected that Joey Genoni and Jacques Serrano would present us with a straight-out continuation of the great „Bleeding Black”. I was hoping for another voyage through the lands of dark power/thrash metal in the traditional style the band had been so far known for - their fluid, rhythmic, mid-tempo songs. My expectations were reinforced by the two new songs that the were published on Mausoleum Records’ website: „7 Colors” and „Written in the Flames” - it appeared that the band would continue where they’d left off on the preceding album. You could only imagine my surprise when I gave Taunted’s new offering the first spin. It turned out that, when it came to the similiar song structure and the flow, there was only one more track similiar to those on „Bleeding Black”. So, three songs in total. The rest? They sure do surprise, albeit in varying degrees. Irregular, convoulted, seemingly chaotic, that’s what they are.

On their third offering, the Americans presented us with nine tracks, diverse in every aspect - the tempos, the vocals, the guitar parts, the solos - clocking in at less than fifty minutes. Every one of them seems to be a whole different story of its own. All songs blend together very well, forming a steady, twisted, yet not so easily-receivable album. The band made a huge step forwards, recording an ambitious, challenging, ambiguous opus. I wasn’t expecting the album to turn out so brilliant; it brings about an immense dose of very diverse and itriguing sounds. Taunted takes us on one hell of an incredible voyage. „9 Sins” sounds mighty, the songs seem far sharper too - without a doubt thanks to the good production and even-further downtuned guitars. This way, Taunted sounds a little bit more modern. This is hands down the heaviest album in their discography so far. As I said above, „7 Colors” and „Written in the Flames” are, to a degree, a nod to Taunted’s previous opus. They’re the two most classic-sounding pieces on „9 Sins”, though even they do let in a breeze of fresh air. The former makes a great album opener - full of fast, heavy fragments, yet not devoid of melody. The dirty, Bobby Blitz-esque vocals in the verses pass onto the catchier, higher, kinda wailing chorus (reminiscent of Warrel Dane’s parts on „This Godless Endeavor”). There’s also some Nevermore-style riffing in that particular song too. „Written in the Flames”, on the other hand, is a potential metal anthem. It has everything it takes: catchiness, brilliant second guitar parts in the background, a cool tempo, some galloping, layered vocals... and a change of rhythm, something this album is full of in general too. The slower choruses and matching vocals give the song a graceful, solemn vibe. The third classic-sounding track on „9 Sins” is „Laceration”, surprising the listener with a slower-paced intro and an absolutely killer, intriguing riff. The vocals kick in with a Halford-esque scream, and then the song accelerates - an obvious Judas Priest influence. A lot of stuff is happening in the vocal parts - Serrano’s voice freely switches between abrasive, kinda dirty, Blitz-like delivery and a cleaner style in the vein of Rob Halford. Surprise time! Taunted serves us some mellower, ballad-like, yet cold at the same time sounds. A gentle intro, clean yet far-from-calm vocals - enter „Dead Doll”. This one’s dominated by mighty, clearly downtuned guitars. The song, slow as it is, quickly gains heaviness. The low, aggressive vocals herald a surprise indeed - a surprise that comes suddenly in the form of the song’s chorus. The vocals take a „sicker” turn, adopting a Halford-like sound again! The track speeds up, reminiscent of Judas Priest’s „Love Bites”. An incredible solo introduces us to the most insane part of the composition, driven by crazy, demonic vocals. A boatload of great drum parts, diverse singing and an intriguing, dirty solo around the end are all trademarks of „Room 237”. „Chaos Theory” grasps the listener’s attention with brilliant lead guitar parts in the background and its convoulted structure. „Tower of Hellions” is yet another of the many nods toward Judas Priest, with its cool, fast riffing, and the steady, mesmerizing rhythm in the verse keeps exchanging the spotlight in Serrano’s devilish vocals in the chorus. Then the song slows down, turning into an incredibly heavy steamroller; then the atmosphere becomes very stuffy, and a pretty sick solo kicks in. „7 Colors“ isn’t the only song where Taunted came close to sounding like Nevermore on „This Godless Endeavor”. There are some similiarly-vibed riffs in parts of „Sinner’s Language”, „Taunted 2”... the vocals don’t stray that far either. The first one, convoulted, crazy, based around a Priest-like riff, features some neat rhythmic breaks and a fantastic solo. There’s also a repeated, choral line: „Take the evil seed and feed it”. Sounds like some kind of ominous incantation! As for „Taunted 2”, this is the kind of song I could write a whole another review for: it’s a real metal gem that could compete even with Nevermore’s title tracks from „This Godless Endeavor” and „The Obsidian Conspiracy”. Ten minutes long, this particular track is a meticulously-built, multi-layered, monumental, building up the tension all the way up to the progressive ending solo. This song is led by Genoni’s best riff on the whole album, spiced by his long, awesome solo.

Jacques did his best here too - beginning with a gentle wail, he utters the words: „taunted you are”. Just like in the first part on Taunted’s debut! After that, the spotlight is taken by some demonic delivery - Jacques no longer sings, turning towards a haunted scream... just like one’d have it in such a dark piece. The absolutely fantastic guitars complement the composition greatly. Then comes a slowdown, and... again, Taunted sound like Nevermore! The song develops and gains colors as it progresses, the bass blends in very well... in places, the guitars sound kinda Helstar-esque, actually. The song itself is a sequel to „Taunted” from the band’s first offering.

Given that Taunted is a very dark band, everything else has to match it: the cover, the titles, the lyrics and the general vibe. The interpretation of their music is the listener’s thing, of course. There’s a lot of evil in Jacques’ lyrics, but we don’t have to submit to it, immersing ourselves in the darkness that permeates Taunted’s form of art... like Genoni said in an interview, they’re telling us that we can always „prevail”. The band proved that they’re anything but stagnant. „9 Sins” contains a lot of dirt, many surprising, sometimes crazy passages and turns, forfeiting some of classic metal’s typical melody and harmony in favor of the devil, both musically and lyrically. The vocals are just plain stunning, very diverse and for the most part aggressive. The riffs sound brilliant, as does the mighty drumwork. The solos, on the other hand, seem to develop in their own, separate planes of existence - they’re a whole different story, but that’s what makes them work so well; they really fit the general darkness of „9 Sins”. Joey’s lead guitarwork is incredible, different than that on the previous albums, dirty... sometimes sick, atypical and brutal. 

This album has two heroes - the main composer, responsible for the awesome structures, great riffs and brilliant solos, Joey Genoni, the band’s brain, and the charismatic singer Jacques Serrano - its heart and soul.

9  Tomek/Nevermore