In their press release Texan band Widower are described as a blackened thrash quartet. Taking a look at the legible band logo and the album's cover, thrash metal rather than its corpse-painted counterpart is the major expectation.
Truth is the first few songs beat with a pure black metal heart with only a hint of a crossover into thrash metal territory. The question of style or sub-genre often matters very little if the songs are up to standard and Widower's songs have the punchy drums and the guitar sound from hell accompanied with evil goblin vocals that cause most black metal fans to wipe off more than just their make-up. Elements of thrash kick in on the intro to "Unholy Force" but it quickly gallops away into a darker locality where one has to be aware of getting pricked by the sharp riffing. The blackened thrash description makes sense when "The Council" kicks into session. This is a successful marriage between the two sub-genres of metal. The sharp thrashing riffs recalls the heyday of "The Big Four" although this tune by Widower is closer to the Scandinavian metal that was coming out during that period. "Whore Crusher" thrashes along in "Kill 'Em All" mode without betraying Widower's black metal roots.
This 5 song EP is an unholy noise that will excite most black metal fans although those strictly looking for pure(?) blackened thrash may be slightly disappointed but they'll still find some treasure in "The Unholy Oath". It will be interesting to keep an eye on this Widower.
3.5/5
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