AOV - Act Of Violence

AOV

Act Of Violence

by H.P. Buttcraft at 14 August 2014, 5:59 AM

These young scruffs from Finland calling themselves AOV have debuted with this release called "Act of Violence". I think when people refer to this band, they can say it like their from the city shouting to a friend of theirs “Hey, yo, Vee!” Then you both can go out and get some nice gabagool on rye with the tomatoes sliced so nice and thin.

Well snap out of it! AOV will slap that deli sandwich right out of your hands when they confront you with their indestructible blend of thrash metal and groove metal. The music of AOV, as you may have expected, is raw and aggressive. There is a solid beat running through every song making it easy for the listener to head bang along to songs like “Crack of Dawn”. I mean, it is "Act of Violence" after all. You know what you were getting yourself into when you listened to this.

The lead guitars are crucial to the compositions of these songs. It’s your standard fare of sweep-picking, whammy bar dive bombs and pentatonic tremolo shredding that are never disappointing. Its nothing new or surprising if you’re already well acquainted with thrash metal. But that’s not to say its bad, it’s actually nice to hear how well acquainted with thrash metal music from guitar players Roni Sjöblom and Valo Lehto. And that bass guitar intro on the album’s single “Surrounded by Concrete” is the definition of groovy heaviness.

But as far as the album goes, the fare is nothing new from stuff that’s come out in the past fifteen years of metal releases. If you’re already familiar with bands like CARNAL FORGE, MUNICIPAL WASTE, EXHORDER and the sort, AOV won’t be too much of a challenge for you to like. But I feel like although these guys look young, this music feels dated and stale. Take, for example, another Finnish rock band that released an album this year, SAMMAL, who throw their musical style back to bands that produced Rock music in the sixties and seventies, AOV goes only as far back as the nineteen nineties for their nostalgic value.

Don’t get me wrong! The nineties were an essential part of music and if it weren’t for PANTERA, I couldn’t tell you if we would have a band like AOV today doing what they’re doing. I still think "Act of Violence" is a good first step in the right direction but AOV need to step up their writing game for their next album if they don’t want to get washed away in the giant sea of mundane metal bands from Europe.