Reviews for Horrifying Visions

Chronicles of Chaos Aratron's _Horrifying Visions_ demo EP is black and grey, and glancing at this cheerless miasma, the bones of some dead beast and the rotting body of some humanoid are nestled beneath Aratron's murky logo. So, this looks like a primitive black metal album. Next stop, the press release. Aratron are apparently a death metal band with black metal influences. OK, that just about fits, into the computer it goes. I am braced for chilly, tremolo picking, thundering blasts and atonal buzz saws going hell bent for leather. Seconds in, and it is apparent that I've been misled. The guitars have that warm _South of Heaven_ chug, only with more guts and bite, and they dominate the mix in a suitable and effective way. The solos are bright and cut through nicely to showcase some strong playing. The bass and drums sound more low-fi, but are powerful and tonally rich. The sound is beefy, engaging and riff-tastic. Vocals gurgle and groan in a strange but effectively low-mid monotone, and while it doesn't sound as if vocalist Ronald van Baren is passing a gallstone mid-take, what we get instead is a commanding and atmospheric delivery. After a few listens it feels like the album gets better as it progresses, and the final two tracks stand out nicely as ones to keep. What this is, ladies and gentlemen, is a prime example of judging an album by its cover on my part. There is nary a whiff of Norwegian forestry about this once one has braved the artwork. As soon as "Brutality Reigns Supreme" launches out at us, we know immediately that it's beer drinking, head banging time. _Horrifying Visions_ is a meaty, mighty excercise in good, solid, thrashing death metal; perhaps deathened-thrash (or thrashened-death -- whatever). The last track, the wonderfully titled "The Revolting Stench of Death", leans down the left hand path more than the rest of the material, but even this breaks down into a Testament-y groove in the mid section. This is what Aratron do well: great, big, groovin', kick-ass, thrash-bastard riffage. Just to underscore the Slayer vibes, the drums even have that Lombardo-esque, ahead of the beat, trainwreck feel in the faster sections. So then, perhaps next time some Ed Repka stylings and a less bleak photograph; there's a positivity and a gutsy, metal spirit to Aratron's music which isn't being conveyed at first glance on _Horrifying Visions_. Besides, they could certainly give the "thrash is back" mob a kick up the arse. Right now, I'm gonna grab another beer and listen to this again. __________________________________________________ Burning Black (rip) “Horrifying Visions” is the first and only release at the time of this Dutch Death Metal quartet formed in 2000. This demo consist in five tracks clocked at 19 minutes of crushing Death/Thrash Metal full of macabre atmospheres, this whole demo is based over mid paced thrashing structures where the mid tone guitars leads the music from the beginning to the end with powerful, violent riffs and a vaguely melodic feeling. The drum work here is heavy, unmerciful and versatile dealing perfectly with the varied and quite complex structures of this demo, while the bass work is muscular and destructive adding tons of weight to the yet heavy formula. The vocal work on this demo is quite remarkable as well; the guttural and aggressive vocals of Ronald Van Baren are one of the crudest elements on this work, which enormously contributes with the old-school Death Metal vibe that surrounds this demo… We can also find some slight Black Metal traces along these five tracks, reflected at some strident riffs, some speedy structure or some shrieking voice, but more than a strictly musical thing, this whole Black Metal vibe is especially noticeable at the somber atmosphere of this work, which even when undoubtedly belongs to the realms of Death Metal, contains a frightening aura worthy of a Black Metal album. The whole demo production is very decent sounding; you can easily distinguish each instrument and its respective performance, the whole mixing sounds balanced and powerful, don’t expect a crystal clear sound, but considering this is a demo, the whole production here is definitely remarkable… “Horrifying Visions” is a nice debut, a work full of destruction and obscurity that may easily catch the attention of more than one Death Metal diehard… __________________________________________________ Pest Webzine I like what these guys wrote me in a short letter accompaning this CD, that they are very proud of this, first release of theirs. And they should be, after all it is their work they are talking about. Aratron is around since 2000, but line-up changes made the band innactive between 2002 and 2008, good for them, it's always good to hear about bands getting it on again, that means metal is still in their bones. And this demo proves that well, a 5 tracks effort lasting for almost 20 minutes, Old- School Death Metal with Thrash influences, simple but extremely effective, with the benefit of a crystal clear sound, a demo that keeps up the Dutch Death Metal banner. Nothing innovative here, but this is a perfect listening for all Old- Schoolers out there, I won't be too surprised if they get signed right away. Fast, ugly and honest Death Metal as it was meant to be. __________________________________________________ Lords of Metal Van eigen bodem de band Aratron. Dit is hun eerste demo, terwijl de band al in 2000 geformeerd is. Maar goed, zo als dat zo vaak ging wilde de één linksaf, de ander recht door zee en weer eentje rechtsaf. En zo kwam het dat de band uit elkaar viel, slechts twee jaar later. In 2008 bleek het met nagenoeg dezelfde bezetting toch wel te gaan, met alleen op de drums een wijziging. Dezelfde nummers werden weer van stal gehaald, en ziedaar: 'Horrifying Visions' is een feit. Met hun old school death metal weet Aratron het tempo lekker hoog te houden en met de grafrochel van zanger Ronald erbij, is Aratron een honderd procent death metal band, los even van alle andere metal invloeden die ook wel hoorbaar zijn. Er zitten veel ritmische stukken in en ook krijgt melodie ruim baan naast, soms zelfs tijdens de agressieve stukken. Op zichzelf klinkt het erg prettig en enthousiast, maar doordat ze doen wat al zo vaak voor hen gedaan is, blijft de verrassing wel een beetje uit. Ze beloven echter dat op de nieuwe nummers alweer groei te horen is, dus daar ben ik alvast benieuwd naar. Kortom, welkom Aratron. Dit is een demo die je gerust een paar keer achter elkaar kan luisteren tijdens een flinke autorit. __________________________________________________ ZwareMetalen Waarom moeilijk doen als het makkelijk kan? Dit lijkt het motto te zijn voor het Dordrechtse Aratron. Deze demo bestaat uit vijf lompe oldschool death metal-tracks zonder enige franje of moeilijkdoenerij, puur bedoeld om de nekspieren op te rekken. Waan je terug naar begin jaren ’90 met nummers als Brutality Reigns Supreme of het soms aan Unleashed herinnerende The Revolting Stench Of Death. Vooral live zal dit voor de nodige haarzwieperij zorgen, aangezien alle vijf de nummers catchy as hell zijn, maar ook op cd komt de band, door de lekker stevige productie, redelijk krachtig over moet ik zeggen. Nadeel van dit alles is dat Aratron zich natuurlijk op paden begeeft die allang platter dan platgewalst zijn en behoorlijk voorspelbaar is, zodat je het na een paar keer luisteren dus wel gehoord hebt. Compositietechnisch had het ook net even wat beter gekund, aangezien sommige overgangen niet bepaald lekker lopen, hier is dus zeker nog wel wat verbetering mogelijk. De band voegt op zich weinig toe aan het huidige death metal aanbod, maar met Horrifying Visions levert dit viertal een professioneel visitekaartje af. Van de mensen die houden van de botte klanken van bands als Grave en ook ons eigen Hail of Bullets zullen er vast een paar zijn die wel vijf eurootjes overhebben voor deze demo. __________________________________________________ True Cult Heavy Metal (rip) Everyday fresh metal is blasted out from countries worldwide and in this case it is Dutch Death Metallers with their debut demo 'Horrifying Visions'. What makes Aratron different is they use the guttural backbone of the Dutch accent to emphasize the Death Metal growling to its deepest tones, almost with a baritone voice so low that it will crack the ceiling. Pounding beats in your ears can cause concussion but with Aratron, it causes 'Horrifying Visions'. __________________________________________________ Metal Pulse (rip) Earlier this month the existence of Aratron was brought to my attention, death metallers hailing from the Netherlands. After doing my reading it sounds as though Aratron has been through turmoil since starting up in 2000, disbanding two years later, and joining up again in 2008. Musical differences and lineup changes have plagued this band from the beginning, but it seems they’ve put aside their differences and gotten down to business, and were able to release their first EP Horrifying Visions. The musical differences of each band member may have driven them apart in the past but now, they’ve found a middle ground in which to thrive. With so many diversifications we could be dealing with quite a monstrosity here but no, the music is a thrashy death metal that pretty much sticks to a classic formula without venturing too far off the beaten path. And I’m not saying this in a negative way. It’s simple, but sounds great. Heavy, fast, and thrashy with well-executed riffs and low growling vocals. A combination that works, and works well. I just hope these fellows don’t call it quits again before I hear how their sound progresses on the next album. __________________________________________________ Archaic Magazine (rip) Archaic Magazine received the demo from Aratron, a band formed already in the year 2000 in the Netherlands. The demo is titled "Horrifying Visions" and there are 5 tracks audible. After some surfing on the web I discovered that the reason of the time between their formation (2000) and the first demo (2010) release was because of the fact that the band has stopped for a period, things that happen unfortunately.   Well, they provide the listeners some crude death/thrash metal added with good rhythm and some melody in it. The best thing on this demo for me is absolutely the harsh voice from Ronald Van Baren that is totally one from the death metal scene. Also the mixture between the agressive parts and the melody has been executed well.   Off course it's a demo, and as you then can expect mostly, the production and finishing off isn't very great. Like for example, I sporadic hear some kind of 'tonk' sound in the drum parts, and the advancements between the instrumental pieces aren't executed very well mostly. All things they can work on in the future.   In conclusion, this is a nice demo from Aratron, original their sound is not, and like most beginning bands they've got the same problem: having an own identity to transcend the level of death/thrash metal bands in the huge list that already exists But it's a good starter.