Time Signature
Death machine...
Genre: death-thrash
"To the Worms" is the debut album from Dutch metallers Seven Ends (the band was formed in 2007 and released one demo in 2009), and I must say that this is a really strong debut full length the five Dutchmen.
Stylistically, we are dealing with ferocious death-thrash, and right from the first track "Deathmachine" Seven Ends show that they are here to kick ass. After a solid thrash metal passage, the listener is thrown into a stampede of brutal blastbeating followed by a series of more Slayer-esque passages. The same track also contains some heavy sections which constitute a fine contrast to the more aggressive elements. The title track continues in the same aggressive Slayer-inspired vein (without the blastbeats though), and "Cadaver Throne" features a riff that reminds me of the main riff in Sepultura's "We Who Are Not As Others" (and this works quite well), plus a kinda groovy breakdown. These three tracks virtually set the tone for the rest of this excellent album.
There are some breakdowns on this album; however, these are more along lines of classic thrash breakdowns known from Exodus and Anthrax and other thrash masters of the 80s. So, do not worry, there's no metalcore on here. On the other hand, there are plenty of powerful thrash metal riffs that should appeal to fans of Slayer, Exodus, Kreator and Artillery.
Musically, the album is very focused, but also quite varied and definitely not boring. There is simply too much aggression and energy in the music for one to get bored.