(Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal) Praetorius - Taste Death (2008), MP3, 320 kbps

Formed during the summer of 2005, Praetorius realized its roots early, while molding songs in the searing heat of a tiny shed in Raleigh, NC. Led by the heart pounding beats of Dan Nusz and the complex riffing of guitarist John Sayres, Praetorius set out to show the world its view of how metal should be.

Through long nights of writing and searching, Nusz and Sayres met up with Elliot Madre to put together a trio of pure metal power. For a while, the additional six string capablities of Sam DeFilipp and bassist Alex Kiser were implemented to create the initial sound and first album, "Taste Death." Now, with bassist Larson Kilstrom and guitarist Peter Lemieux, Praetorius aims to inject the world with a new generation of untapped music. Soaring guitar solos, vocal swagger, and thunderous drums will lead the way as Praetorius vows to show a new view on a timeless artifact.

Debut album from this very promising North Carolina band, and while it didn't initially look promising, I think this is the best promo I've gotten yet! Praetorius play a style of Metal that I enjoy very much, as it reminds me greatly of Slough Feg, Judas Priest and even a bit of Manilla Road or Ironsword. The United States is seemingly infallible with this kind of stuff. They rarely ever fail to comply with it; when you see a Traditional Metal band from the USA, you can usually be assured that it is at least of decent quality. Praetorius are no exception to that rule.
This is just killer guitar-oriented stuff, with no frills or bells or whistles at all. The riffs are just classic metal bliss, galloping along gleefully and leading the rest of the music by the nose, always headbangable and always enjoyable as fuck. The leads are blazing and the band always sound confident of themselves - this is no meager, unsure freshmen effort! This kind of music really shouldn't be that hard to get right: just chug out some cool riffs, a solo or two, and write lyrics about the weird, the wondrous and the wild, and Praetorius get it right in spades. There is one sticking point here in the vocalist, who sounds a bit strained and limited, and reminds me sometimes of that dude from The Sword in the way that he doesn't really sound like a metal singer, but thankfully better in the tolerability aspect. He does put energy into his performance, but I think this band would do better with a more charismatic and powerful sounding singer à la David DeFeis or J.D. Kimball.
But that doesn't detract much from the overall experience, as when an album contains as much killer shit as this one does, anything is excusable. "Pirates of the West" opens with a thriving gallop, and it's followed up by the electrified "Taste Death, Live Life," the awesome riff-monger "March of Praetorius," the melodic "10 'til 2," and even the surprisingly complex and calculated "Life, Love, Lost." If you're tired of boring Iced Earth albums and shitty Children of Bodom albums, crank this motherfucker up and headbang the night away.
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TASTE DEATH, the 2008 release from Raleigh, North Carolina's heavy metal outfit Praetorius begins abruptly with "Pirates Of The West" a mid tempo double bass heavy number before launching into the title track "Taste Death, Live Life" a stomping, anthemic song that takes influence from the verse riff of Megadeth's "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" before giving way to Carpe Diem-esque lyrics about living life to the fullest.
Both "True Colors" and "Life, Love, Lost" appear at first listen to be ballad like in nature, opening with acoustic or clean toned guitars which eventually yield to distortion and drums come the chorus. Dynamics wise these two stand out as the rest of this disc is pretty much mid tempo throughout. Vocalist Elliot Madre demonstrates a nasally upper mid register traditional metal vocal register that complements the melodic guitar riffs of John Sayres and Sam Defilipp.
"Ten 'Til Two", an ode to beer drinking and hellraising deals with the band's insatiable need to consume as much suds as possible before the bar's cutoff time of 2 AM. Concerns about what time the liquor store closes and who will be designated driver are also addressed and taken into consideration.
"Shredders On The Roof" is perhaps the album's most aggressive track and is greeted with a searing high vocal wail. Chugging thrashy guitars and a very tight rhythm section playing off a mid tempo double bass drum attack make this another album highlight. "Shredders" also has some blazing fretboard action come solo time.
Production wise TASTE DEATH is a pretty cohesive mix. I think vocalist Elliot Madre might benefit with a little effect on his tracks, but that small gripe aside everything is appropriately thumpy and banging.
The album cover for TASTE DEATH showcases a really lame interpretation of a wild west gunslinger and is drawn simplistic and obnoxiously bland. My biggest beef with TASTE DEATH wouldn't be the music at all but the lame album cover. The music deserves a better cover than this.

Elliot Madre - vocals
John Sayres - guitar
Sam Defilipp - guitar
Adam Wamsley - bass
DanNusz - drums