I’m not a big fan of metal — I like some metal bands, but I’m hardly an authority. I think my distaste for the genre has something to do with it being without groove. I’m aware that’s a gross generalization, as evidenced by my pleasant surprise at Chilliwack (!) metal outfit Medevil’s latest record Conductor of Storms. If anything, this is quite grounded; guttural vocals aren’t overbearing and the instrumental aspects of songs like opened “Nightwalk” are varied enough to avoid being shrugged off as repetitive. And where riffs are repetitive, such as on “An Empty Glass,” they’re tight and funky. The opening riff of “An Empty Glass” could be mistaken for a funk / jazz fusion outing if it weren’t for the distortion announcing a distinctly harder genre at play.
And what’s more, it’s local!
