Scavenger - Beyond the Bells (2024)

★★★

After many, many years since their cult classic debut in 1985, we see a revamped Scavenger – and this time, they deliver the goods. Where their past releases (that being an EP in 2020 and the aforementioned 1985 album) didn’t quite hit the mark, Beyond the Bells remedies this with a never-ending feast of riffs, complex melodies, and technical playing all across the album. Furthermore, Scavenger knows when to stop – a problem that seems to plague many modern bands – with this album coming in at just over 40 minutes. With all these fun, speedy, and memorable songs, what could go wrong? Well, my single complaint with this album is the vocals. After their reformation, Scavenger brought on Tine Callebaut, who’s not a bad singer per se, but her delivery seems all wrong. She has the range and a hell of a lot of potential, but I think her vocals could’ve been refined more before the release of this new album. That being said, the choruses are pretty great, so maybe my ears just aren’t meant for her type of singing. All in all, a great comeback album and I can’t wait to see what they offer down the line.

FAVORITE TRACKS: "Black Witchery," "Defiler," "Crystal Light"

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Originally published in March '24 (Issue No. 2)