Fitting that on the day I learned of Fast Eddie Clark’s passing I would come across a band that wears their Motörhead influence so unabashedly on their sleeve.. Viölence is a one-man black/speed outfit out of Australia that rips through the 20-minute debut EP MotörDemon with the ferocity of a banshee from hell strung out on whiskey, BDSM, and Gehennah records. Going in, it’s obvious there’s not going to be much groundbreaking going on; black/speed can be a far more limiting style than it’s thrashier cousin. MotörDemon doesn’t try to do anything new, instead each track can be seen as a different study in the influences of creator Dylan Potter.
Release date: January 2, 2018 (digital), February 7, 2018 (cassette) Label: Narcoleptica Productions (cassette)
After a brief intro, the EP kicks off with “Ritual of the Goat,” a palm-muted, engine-stroking burner that brings to mind the guitar style of Razor’s Dave Carlo. The vocals were one of the first things to hook me in: from the off-time, rabid delivery of the verse to the almost cracking wail in the chorus, Potter is giving it his all. “Chained Up” loses the palm mutes for a punkier, d-beat fueled belter that explodes with double-kick afterburners for one of my favorite tracks on the EP. With no time wasted, “L.S.D. (Leather, Sex, Death)” builds off a few tweaks of the “Painkiller” riff, and with Potter’s vocal delivery, creates a blackened S&M anthem that could give Midnight a run for their money. Nowhere is a Venom presence felt more than on “Worship At Midnight”: a full-throttle blasphemy that rallies the hordes of evil from their barstools and into a heathen celebration of sin and destruction. The EP comes to a close with an obvious nod to Motörhead. With the swagger of rock’n’roll and the sneer of punk, “MotörDemon” drives home the point Viölence has been preaching since the first chords kicked in: speed metal fucking rules.
MotörDemon is everything I want out of a power EP. Concise (minus the intro, but it’s fitting and less than a minute), energetic, and consistent throughout, MotörDemon is a passion project and it shows. Sure, Viölence aren’t exactly breaking the mold here, and really don’t need to. The spirit of Motörhead lives: just good, fast, rock’n’roll heavy metal (with more Satan, and kind of a thing for asphyxiation).
Posted by Ryan Tysinger
I listen to music, then I write about it.
(Outro: The Winds Of Mayhem)
Thanks for singling this out. While I’m not gonna jump on the EP at this point – I’d rather wait for a proper full-length – I’m more than happy to follow the band and see what’s next. Good stuff, indeed.
Hoping we get a full length in the future as well!
this fills the empty space after motorhead’s passing, and more. the vocals are perfect. i forgot how awesome speed metal (with punk vocals) was. and-not one, but 2 umlats!(however you spell umlat). i wish they were playing in my hometown.