Review: “Pyrography” by Raze

Building the anticipation with the waterfall release of five singles between March and July, its safe to say that the arrival of a debut album in “Pyrography” from Raze has been a long time coming. While an initial incarnation of the band was formed in 2014 and debut EP “Falling Apart” arrived in 2017, the group have undergone line up changes while gaining a hard earned reputation for their live performances. Now comprised of guitarists Daniel Eveleigh and Jack Ilott, bassist Sam Trueman and drummer Ethan Morter who join mastermind and founding member vocalist Louis Dunham, their influences are diverse and yet their music refined. Recorded at Black Seraph Studios by Dunham himself before being mastered at Plesion Studios by Paula Nelson of Helgrind fame, the album sets the band on a journey into the future with the raw emotion of nineties grunge just one of its many ingredients…

Interweaving elements of Post-Grunge, Progressive and Groove Metal, opening cut “Maple” finds Raze in similar territory to Tool or A Perfect Circle with rich clean vocals from Dunham aided and abetted by some unexpected vicious unclean moments. The musings on trying to elevate the state of mind from something negative and miserable into something uplifting make for something different, perhaps offering an escape from Nu-Metal introspection but its the riffs that really shine here. Eveleigh and Ilott seamlessly blurring the lines between sub-genres to offer something that satisfies both the fellowship of mellowship and those more hardened Metal heads. Arguably this first cut announces the band as gateway for the former to become the latter because who doesn’t want to hear Alter Bridge dabbling with Lamb Of God riffs? By the time “Better Off Alone” rears its ugly head, like the latest designer drug, you’re hooked. Another Groove soaked earworm of a main riff and soothing verse prepares the ground for some more vicious uncleans in the chorus, the band not changing the intensity of the guitar attack but rather the dynamic so as give a nice flow and balance to the arena filling sounds they create. A reference to someone willing to take a risk rather than someone who always kills the roach of a joint, “Roachman” blends melody with ferocity and while pushing apart the bands sonic extremes. Morter drives cut forward from behind the kit, his dynamo like performance a stand out on the record as a while the ebb and flow of this one demonstrates a greater maturity in musicianship.

As with any album you’d hope that the title track would be a statement piece and in “Pyrography“, that is exactly what Raze offer up, nailing the brief. Delicate leads transcend from the previous cut into this one while the solo is an absolute face melter of classic proportions. Layering unclean vocals behind the clean ones in the final moments gives then an extra depth and resonance, Dunham’s emotive performance suggesting there is more to the lyrical narrative than meets the eye in his mind. The eclectically titled “C. exigua” is an injection of caffeine as the energy levels are raised to match the bands live performance, capturing it like lightning in a bottle, while losing none of their warmth. An extended vibrant solo borders on the virtuoso on this one, a real jaws to the floor moment that is nothing short of spellbinding while acting as a bridge into “W.B.C” which brings the bounce in the riff department. The major labels should really be all over Raze like flies around s*** on this evidence, although whether they would try and get them to drop the uncleans would be the question. They give them a point of difference that make them stand out from the pack but they might fall away naturally in a couple of albums time anyway.

Avoiding the temptation to sell their souls and try and create a ballad that could get them noticed for all the wrong reasons, Raze continue to tread their tried, tested and proven path with “…Again“, a cut with a bluesy section in the middle and a the feel of a Jam session and the guitarists go toe to toe in a riff off. It’s another moment of wide eyed wonder for riff worshippers while still packing plenty of punch. The bands that surround them maybe releasing sombre and sobering records but here Raze are simply having fun. A Plini style main riff gives “Mellow // Breeze” a sunshine like quality in the first half, delicate and unassuming before returning to the core guitar sound in the second half.  It sounds as the title eludes to, two songs put together as one, a conjoined twin never to be parted. Last but by no means least “Blue-Sky Vengeance” brings things full circle, the hook laden vocal as enticing as the Metal edged guitar work. A perfectly executed melodic drop off in the final third allows for a punch of aggression in the final verse, the bloodcurdling unclean roar sounding like a beast from the black depths for a final note. An absorbing album full of warmth and charm as well as bursts of aggression, this one is one to savour [8/10]

Track Listing

1. Maple
2. Better Off Alone
3. Roachman
4. Pyrography
5. C. exigua
6. W.B.C
7. …Again
8. Mellow // Breeze
9. Blue-Sky Vengeance

“Pyrography” by Raze is out 28th July 2023 via One Eyed Toad Records with pre-orders available over at bandcamp.