Album Details

• Artist: Raunchy
• Album: Wasteland Discotheque
• Label: Lifeforce
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2008-08-12

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Raunchy just may be the biggest Metal band in Denmark. Not that I'm at all familiar with that particular scene (this will change), but these guys have been at it for the better part of 15 years now, despite this only being their 4th full-length. Wasteland Discotheque presents the band as a melodically-sound, Gothenburg DM-influenced entity, capable of both pushing boundaries and sinking into a groove of hella-catchy material. Simply put, these are some of the catchiest metal songs I've heard all year.

It all starts out with an anthemic intro instrumental, before launching headlong into "Somewhere Along The Road", one of the album's best and featuring a chorus you'll want to stand up and shout along to. The album stays it's most consistent over the first half, as the melodic passages of "Warriors" and "Straight To Hell" intertwine with blast-beat sections and soundly-written riffs. Their use of synths is never underplayed, and sometimes becomes the focal point of a particular song. They're at their best when braving pop-centric choruses; "Welcome The Storm" caught my attention the first listen through, and ended up being my favorite song of the bunch. The vocal melodies of the chorus are quite daring, and the rhythms sound something like a Stoner metal band playing around with electro-techno beats. 

Over the 2nd half of the album, things are kept more or less in line, with their Soilwork-meets-Mnemic blend of hardcore metal and sudden, bumping choruses that spring up and really grab your attention. Fans of In Flames and the aforementioned groups should definitely let nothing stand between them and Wasteland Discotheque. Raunchy may or may not be Denmark's most prolific metal product, but you heard it here first; they've produced one of this year's must-own metal albums. 

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