Bank Robber

You won't like Vultures if you can't get past its throaty, nearly screamo vocals or the alloy of hardcore and thrash and lyrics that read like an unabashed screed against society's ills and personal angst. If, however, you want to hear a record in which a band displays dynamic shifts...

By Tom Murphy

November 19, 2009

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You won't like Vultures if you can't get past its throaty, nearly screamo vocals or the alloy of hardcore and thrash and lyrics that read like an unabashed screed against society's ills and personal angst. If, however, you want to hear a record in which a band displays dynamic shifts that place it outside any easily pegged genre without compromising its heaviness, this is worthy of your consideration. The title track, with its insistently punctuated measures and tom rolls, is reminiscent of early Testament teamed with DRI. The appropriately brutal "Indians" is perhaps the most invigorating song here, but the lyrical high point comes with "Broken Record," an anthemic call for self-empowerment. Often histrionic in its emotionally charged declarations, Vultures nevertheless rewards the sensitive listener and reveals a band willing to break with genre conventions.

Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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