Review by Felix on May 10, 2022.

Since its release "Violence & Force" always stood in the shadow of its legendary predecessor "Heavy Metal Maniac". Of course, we need to be aware of the early timing of the debut's release. In 1983, speed metal was still in its infancy. Inter alia due to this fact the debut left a huge impact. But irrespective of this favourable basis, "Heavy Metal Maniac" was legendary indeed. Nevertheless, from my point of view "Violence & Force" is not any less fascinating than the debut. To make this explicit I like to start with the description of the three highlights.

Driven by a mighty riff, the title track explodes rapidly after the noisy intro. It is crowned by a catchy chorus and Dan Beehler's shrill shrieks, but I must not neglect the double-bass based bridge, too. No doubt that Exciter still showed great energy and enthusiasm. Perhaps this may seem like a cliché, but they were young and reckless and did not look right and left in order to see what the others were doing. It quickly became clear that the compositions pointed in the same direction as those on the debut. I interpreted this as a sign of honesty and self-confidence - and I liked it. "Saxons of the Fire", opened by a razor-sharp riff, ran in the same vein as the title track. This applied equally to the energy released and the compositional quality. "Swords of Darkness" hit the mark, too. It sounded a bit less furious, yet it convinced with great melodies.

Exciter focused alternately on heaviness and speed. They handled both in an excellent way. This applied even considering the fact, that the majority of the tunes were strong, but not outstanding. Just take "Pounding Metal" for example, its name is simultaneously the perfect description for this piece. Or listen to "Scream in the Night", everything fits. To mention another example, enjoy the leads of "Destructor", the first tune on the B-Side. It starts with a drum solo performance so that it reminded me of "Heavy Metal Maniac" because its B-Side, in particular "Under Attack", began with Beehler´s drumming, too. Coincidence or calculation? I am stumped for an answer. But I know for a fact that I still like the whole album, every song as well as the clean and vigorous production.

And what about the cover? From a present-day perspective one may choose to call it "racially motivated" or "glorifying violence". But even if it were, there is no evidence of this crap in their lyrics. Therefore I just celebrate the 30th birthday of an album I still can recommend with a safe conscience.

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by Szymon on August 11, 2018.

Six years after returning to the stage, Betrayer presents the new album Scaregod. An album better than its predecessor in every aspect.

Released in 2015, Infernum in Terra did not fully confirm the sense of resurrection of Betrayer after 17 years of non-existence. The cult status of the debut album Calamity from 1994 did not give a sufficiently large advantage in pushing through the crowd of bands, which have since tried to plow albeit fertile, but exceptionally mono-cultural death metal plot. Not much help particularly came also from lacking spark and quite average Infernum in Terra, which definitely required refinement in terms of composition and sound. Its successor, Scaregod, is a slightly a different story. The disc is stronger, more massive, definitely sounds better and draws from the classics of the genre in a successful way.

The latter is not however any objection in style, in which creative cannibalism has dominated for years, and the crushing majority of albums vary only in details. In the stylistics, which is still doing well nonetheless, because you do not have to reinvent the wheel to propose something really decent and worth knowing. This is known to both giants and veterans of the genre, many of whom work very well clinging to the tried patents, as well as lesser-known bands slowly working on their brand. That's the case with Scaregod. The disc does not claim to revolutionize the death metal scene, and Betrayer does what they do best – they’re pounding it in nicely and more interesting than the previous time.

Already promoting the album, opening the material "We Are Rebels" beyond the band's specific statement ("We are rebels, in the rise against the light") announces almost everything that can be expected from the latest incarnation of the band. Accelerations (but without crazy tempos), massive slowdowns, where producers input of Malta is best heard, some technical licks (but no exaggeration, Betrayer is closer to Deicide than to Gorguts) and swinging  groove, perfectly embedded in compositions, unforced solos, emphasized here and there and well-working rhythm section, finally the first league growling of Berial. Assemble these blocks together and you will get a solid structure under the banner of Scaregod. The fact that you had to deal with such blocks many times before should hardly spoil the joy of fun.

The disc is not overly aggressive and definitely does not wear you out with the intensity or density of the pieces. The Koszalin trio has not forgotten about space in compositions and prefers to simplify patterns rather than to wander into an excessive jumble of sounds. In this case, it came out for good. Personally, I miss a bit of old school variations, such as in "Ashes of the Vatican" (distant echoes of "Chapel of Ghouls" by Morbid Angel), which perfectly adapts into the concept of the band. What if Betrayer were a bit bolder reaching after similar solutions? Anyway, Scaregod is a good material and it's worth giving it a chance.

Rating: 7 out of 10