Reap - Neckbreak Hotel

Reap

Neckbreak Hotel

by Matt "Wolverine" Johnson at 25 October 2014, 10:13 PM

Coming from Austria with a super-aggressive, heavy style, REAP have put together their first album in several years, "Neckbreak Hotel." Sidelined after rifts caused by their band members personal issues, they have since come back together with a renewed focus on their origins, a solid groove set over the intensity common in metal music. With this latest release, they have definitely held true to their focus for this album.

Once called the "New Wave of Austrian Heavy Metal" by MetalHammer, it's good to know that these guys are making new music, having grown and matured as individuals so they were again able to collaborate with their talents.

With a style comparable to the big names of CHIMAIRA and AS I LAY DYING, this album had me feeling the music, uncompromising in its heaviness and I would certainly say this is mosh pit-inducing metal. In the track "Three Words," I even got a bit of a MACHINE HEAD impression. Still, there are no hooks, no poppy, generic riffs, nor any notion that this band are sell-outs in any way. The sound this band has tells me they aren't making music to try and cut corners!

Released on Noisehead Records, I found a lot to like about this album: highly energetic guitars, trusty double-bass percussions, really clean-sounding harsh vocals, and the presence of a melody in at least a few of the songs. Details also worth mentioning are no overbearing distortion, no repetitive, three-chord droning, and no shoddy studio production.

The loyal fanbase of REAP should be pretty pleased with their latest effort. I can say that as a fan of Metal, I was pleasantly surprised by my first time listening to this band. Hopefully they will continue to grow and bring the world more of their thundering, punishing sound in the future!