Norway’s The 3rd Attempt is back with a follow-up to their brilliant and painfully underrated Born In Thorns released a couple years back. If you haven’t heard of this band, this is the act put together put by former Carpathian Forest axemen Tchort and Bloodpervetor. I thought Born in Thorns was one of the best records of 2015 but limited touring hampered the public profile of the band.
Egocidal Path is the band’s newest release and hits December 1 on Dark Essence records. This latest record is a faster, tighter body of work that integrates many more black and roll elements into the mix. In this respect, The 3rd Attempt brings us a slightly more accessible record but still delivers a steady dose of punishing Norwegian black metal.
I will admit, Egocidal Path took me a good number of listens before it clicked. I was expecting a more closely tracked follow-up to Born In Thorns, and for this reason, the new songs didn’t quite register with me. However, the more I listened, the more the new record grew on me. And as I listened to the new tracks, I started to pay more close attention to the lyrics. Songs like “I’ll Do it Now” are heartfelt, yet undeniably depressing. Lead vocalist Odemark asks “Why was I born a monster? Why can’t I change this grief? Why am I blind to hope? I wish I could look beyond the sadness. I’m just one of life’s mistakes beyond forgiveness.” This is depressive black metal yet has a rather unique contrast in terms of the accompanying music which embraces time signatures more inline with thrash metal and more uptempo black metal.
Favorite tracks are “The Oath” which features some intense blast beats and classic tremolo picking over a lush sonicscape. “Black Metal Alchemist” is a crusher with some great time changes and groove laden black and roll passages. The record’s opener, “Blood, Dope and Black and Roll” has some incredible riffage and pummeling rhythms. Definitely worth checking out.
