Razorshape
Live With It
6
Between Deathspell Omega and Gojira, the burgeoning sphere of French metal is beginning to reach what has to be its apex of mainstream recognition. No longer content to remain insular, France is host to a number of acts more concerned with forging their own identity on an international level than simply toe the proverbial line. While Razorshape isn’t exactly a wholly unique outfit, they can be counted as yet another strong French metal band, and though I am not overly impressed, I think the talent and promise is strong enough to warrant a "keep an eye out" response.
Considering the lame name I wasn’t expecting much. Yeah, I can be an asshole and I will judge bands by their name…so be it. This was actually to the benefit of the band because the no frills, relatively modern death metal sound of album-opener “Mediocrity” came as a surprise. I half expected some weird amalgamation of bastardized thrash with blastbeats and cookie cutter gang vocals. Ben DLJ won’t win any originality awards but he’s not ear-splittingly annoying so he’s already better than 2/3rds of his peers. The riffs are largely uninspired, less chunky Entombed leftovers from Morning Star but the band walks such a fine line between the old and new schools of death metal that one has to admire the chutzpah. After all, it does take some weighty balls to risk alienating both sides of the spectrum in the hope of appeasing all. While this formula makes for an interesting cursory experience, with each subsequent listen Live With It falls further from the acts it mimics and eventually lies somewhere in “promising but not quite there” territory.
The songs the band does get right, like the memorable and sweetly arranged “Dead Amongst Dead,” will stomp and swing and shake with the furor of ’97-era Latrell Sprewell. There’s little doubt this French foursome is a talented bunch. You can hear it in their hooks and the confidence with which they play. Unfortunately, death metal is a pretty crowded genre these days and with 2007 already laying claim to excellent albums from Necros Christos, Immolation, Zombie Ritual and Behemoth, there’s little point in wasting time on a promising band still finding its footing.
