Craven Idol - The Shackles Of Mammon album review

Four years and two new members later, not much has changed in the Craven Idol camp. At their core, they’re still a raging black/thrash entity full of reverence for their 80s elders. But as with 2013’s Towards Eschaton, the band’s grand scope and defiant attitude make all the difference, as they haven’t mistaken remaining true to your roots with lack of ambition. While the crudest tracks such as Pyromancer are as spiky as Nifelheim wristbands, CI’s love of Quorthon’s most epic moments and advanced lyrical content concerning mankind’s taste for disaster lift them above the usual ‘beer, sex and metal’ rants of their peers. There may be some well-crafted, pure heavy metal moments here, particularly on Hunger, but for once the production, courtesy of Esoteric’s Greg Chandler, isn’t desperately trying to beam you back to 1985 just for the sake of it. In a way, Craven Idol are taking what Gospel Of The Horns and Deströyer 666 launched in the late 90s to the next level, and with even more panache.