Review by Felix on September 26, 2022.

Razor represents a third of my personal triumvirate of classic Canadian metal. While Piledriver had the charm of a highly talented metal parody and Exciter appeared as a serious and hard working gang, Razor possessed a natural nonchalance. Their riffs conveyed the feeling of ease and heaviness at the same time and the band members wore sleeveless black leather jackets without blushing. Razor took the bull by the horns and started the album with a killer called "Take This Torch". Believe me, this blazing torch caused a real wildfire. Its evocative riffs had several effects. Your feet began to tap, your blood seemed to flow faster and your head started to bang while Stace "Sheepdog" McLaren impressed with his snotty voice. The furious drums and the lively bass guitar completed the picture. No doubt, this song belongs to the immortal anthems of speed metal.

"City of Damnation" also scored with sharp guitars and an irresistible drive. Its staccato background vocals characterised the chorus and the menacing aura of the song brought every poser to its knees. (I admit that this wording revitalises the eighties and I am sorry for being old-school.) Framed by the opener and "City of Damnation", the mid-paced and casual "Fast and Loud" came out of the blue. It represented the rare species of real metal party songs and was a nice contrast to the aforementioned tunes.

This outstanding trio at the beginning turned out to be a blessing and curse at the same time. Razor had to fight hard in order to keep the high quality standard. It was quite an impossible undertaking. "Escape the Fire" confirmed the song-writing skills of the band one more time. Its blazing riffs and the sharp-edged chorus did not lack of recognition value so that the slightly weaker solo part did not appear to be decisive. But with "March of Death" began a series of solid yet unspectacular speed songs. These tunes left an authentic impression and it was good to see that the band did not squint at the marketability of its pieces. Yet it could not be ignored that the strongest riffs had been placed at the beginning of the record and, of course, the riffs were the crucial success factor of the music that Razor performed. Even the powerful "Hot Metal" did not fully achieve the level of the first three songs. Its main riff was a lethal weapon, but the chorus fell short of expectations. It could unfortunately not be overlooked that the tumultuous band was running out of ideas, at the latest during pieces like "Deathrace" and "Time Bomb".

In terms of the production, everything stayed within an acceptable range. In particular after the release of the successor album ("Evil Invaders"), we knew that the drum sound on the here presented full-length gave no reason for complaint. The same applied for any other instrument. Finally, Sheepdog´s voice was neither outstanding nor powerless. In accordance with his comrades, he did a good job. However, after the barely noticed release of the rare "Armed and Dangerous", "Executioner's Song" catapulted the band onto the surface of the world wide speed metal scene and its highlights are still exciting.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10

Review by Felix on October 4, 2020.

I remember that Menhir's debut delivered a pretty solid dose of black metal, but Buchonia is completely different. Only the Def Leppard discography after “Pyromania” is less metallic than this EP. Menhir showcase their pagan side and that’s not forbidden, but why do they do it in such a calm and lame way? Why are the clean male vocals accompanied by a female voice that lends 'Germanenkunst' such a kitschy touch? Not to mention the all-knowing narrator in the fourth track, was this really necessary? Why did they forget to use their electric guitars in an adequate manner during the recordings? So many questions and I have no answer.

But maybe I should be more open-minded. Let’s try to accept the concept of this EP, especially with regard to the fact that this format can always be the field for experiments and songs that would kill the flow of a regular work. The instrumental title track could be an acceptable outro on an ambient black metal album, but at the end of the day, it’s just a melodic piece I don’t want to listen to again in view of the fact that my shelves are filled to the brim with better music. And in view of the general approach of the band on this EP, it makes no difference that the melody of 'Sonnenwende' has charm, at least to a certain degree.

The production is well done for this kind of music. Expressed less politely, it is as defensive as the music itself. The lyrics are a feast for German patriots with an affinity for embarrassing pathos and lofty words. National-romantic hearts will come into bloom, I am sure. I also like my country, but I guess I do it in another way. However, if you like acoustic guitars, Jew’s harp and violin, you will potentially be happy to listen to Buchonia. All narrow-minded metalheads like me should not waste their time. Buchonia is an ambitious work, but it fails, because the artists were not able to express their emotions in an exciting manner.

Rating: 2.7 out of 10