A review of Animalize “Verminateur”

 

Animalize

“Verminateur”

Dying Victims Prod. 2025

 

You should know very well that I am not fond of heavy metal and I treat this genre very, very selectively. That's why I much prefer it when Dying Victims provides me their thrash or old-school death metal releases. Occasionally, however, I happen, especially after a few beers, to reach for their lighter offering, and it eventually chops me down. Such a situation is extremely rare, which is why I feel compelled to write a few words after an evening spent with Animalized. Because the Frenchmen's second album is truly unparalleled material. What captivated me about this album is its naturalness, feisty and fresh. For despite the fact that in this genre it's hard to think of anything new, the froggeaters do quite well in it, even if without any oddities. Importantly, it's hard to accuse them of copying any of the classic bands. Sure, you can hear on this album inspirations drawn from Iron Maiden, Angel Witch, Skid Row, Exciter or dozens of others, but “Verminateur” is definitely the result of creativity flowing first and foremost from the heart. The heart that is imbued with pure heavy metal, pumping liquid metal instead of blood. Fantastic are the melodies on this album, not over-sweetened, containing a good dose of feistiness, and above all, encouraging the danceing. You can say that it's a pure classic, the history of early metal condensed into nine songs. Additional flavor is added by its lyrics, sung in French. And that's without going into the highest registers, which usually irritate the hell out of me. I admit that within the genre, I haven’t encountered  with this language before, and maybe that's why it impressed me so much. However, the biggest plus of “Verminateur” is that the music flows freely, seemingly inconspicuously, but at the same time it creeps into the corners of the mind, bites in like a tick, and it's hard to get rid of it eventually. Animalize is a band that is aware of its skills, a band that is unreservedly in love with the music of the 1980s, a band that has something new to say in an old theme. Finally, a band that I applaud loudly! Because since Megaton Sword's debut, no other heavy metal creation has intrigued me so much. Fuck, what can I say more? Buy yourself a cheap beer and  listen to this shit!

- jesusatan