Extended Mirror is the second album from the Czech Death Metal band Scabbard.
First of all, we can note this is an old album and band so is this album. It will be a little bit slower than what usually we expect from a Death Metal work so we will obviate some things.
Instrumental work is pretty catchy. But, it lacks that something that makes the Death Metal, ‘Death’. It reminds more of Blackened Death than Death Metal in general, but without going too far and losing some of the powerful instrumental work is quite good. The riffs are quite distorted and raspy and sometimes a bit crazy going from really deep breakdowns which are nice. To up-tone scales that unleash an atmosphere of insanity and darkness to a melodic bridge to finally put back the scratchy distorted notes. If we accept that the drum part is missing and lacks some power where you expect it to blow up and denote the Deathly rhyme, the sound is like a mix between Thrash and Blackened Death.
The vocalist’s voice works but is not very deep so it gets lost sometimes and it lacks some of the aggressiveness and crunch of the genre. The lyrical work is interesting, bringing personal themes, like suffering, self-criticism, losing someone, anger and hatred. The writing is short but with a good style of rhythm. Stand out songs are It Means Nothing and Darkest Prison, showing a lot of anger due to guitar progressions and a good structure of mutes. In retrospect, it is a rich release that with a bit more of production. It’s a release that some will love and some will not. So, go and listen to it. Give it a chance!
Release Year: 2020
Label: Awakening Records
Category: Album
Country: Czech Republic
Reviewed by Trent Painless (Seth)