review: Scimitar

Scimitar

Shadows of Man

23 August 2019

The British Columbia-based Canadian band Scimitar appeared on the horizon more than years ago, but it wasn’t made official until 2009 when they greeted the scene with a debut self-titled EP. From that beginning they had a pretty good idea of what they wanted. The EP showed the basic idea of Scimitar and that concept in 2019 remains intact. Their folk-themed extreme metal nowadays is serious business, even though the album is independent and they’re doing their thing all by themselves, apparently. The previous album is the debut from 2010. In between the two albums they did two singles (2013, 2014) and those songs appear on the album, but aside from those singles, it looks like it has been ten years since the debut album.

The album lasts 53 minutes according to iTunes (49, according to Metal Archives), but at this rate it’s not like there is going to be a new album any time soon. In 2019 Scimitar presents a wide variety of moods. It is one overall sound, but the songs are varied in tempo. The sound is gruff/aggressive low growling, and some higher growling in some parts. The centerpiece of the guitar riffs is a melodic, marching type of crunch that is fixated on extending the sense of catchy instrumental themes; they believe in juicing the melodies out of a moment before moving on to the next one. The rhythm section makes all of the above possible. These songs depend on a rhythm section that supports as a foundation for laying down the melodies and the chugging. The melodies are reminiscent of Medieval/Renaissance-like vibes, like melodies from old songs that have come down to the present from centuries ago, possibly from old folk songs popular in Western Europe in Medieval/Enlightenment times. The result is a melodic extreme metal with strong folk directions, and in some songs you will hear some melodies that come from a clean-sounding, plucked-string instrument that enhances the sense of folk music.

Scimitar is not so much a genre as it is the idea of folk themes and melodies joined to extreme metal. “The Shadows of Man II: Cataclysm” leans in a big way towards black metal, with some proggy/folky clean melodies in the middle before coming back to the extreme metal. “To Cultivate with Spears” is an uptempo melodic death metal song of an African legend/myth/history of war and violence, as the other songs are. “Knights Collapse” seems like the story of an English invading army in crisis in France. The vocals on this latter song are gruff and the song itself is melodic extreme metal, of course, but if you listen closely you might notice that the vocals patterns seem different. Do you know why? Because the vocalist is doing something like extreme metal folk growl-rapping.

Fans of melodic death metal with lots melodies, and in this case the melodies are of the folky/proggy variety, would find this Canadian band a worthwhile investigation. It has taken them years to get their affairs in order and this is the result. The album does take time to absorb. The first few listens might only give the feeling that you are scratching the surface. Later on, the tracks will begin to sound like real songs with hooks. The lack of immediate impact may discourage some listeners, but more discerning and patient audiences will get a lot more out of this album. Enjoy the album, friend, and Scimitar will be coming around to rock again in another ten years.

scimitar.bandcamp.com/album/shadows-of-man