Scarve
Translucence

January 2001
Released: 1999, Furtive Records
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Rick

Aggressive, brutal , technical, cyber metal. That is but one way to describe the sound of this 6 piece band from France. The play an aggressive brand of metal which fuses both clean and death metal vocals with technical musicianship to create on extremely heavy yet appealing wall of sound. Scrave was formed in 1994 as a four piece unit. They made their first self titled demo which showcased the bands rough mixture of death and heavy metal and its signature dual vocal style. In 1996 the band released a 6 song Cd entitled "Six Tears of Sorrow". 1998 saw some changed to the bands lineup as they added 2 new vocalists. The lineup now consists of Alain Germonville: death vocals, Guillaume Bideau: clean vocals, Sylvain Coudret: lead guitar, Patrick Martin: rhythm guitar, Phillippe Elter: bass and Dick Verbeuren on the drumstool. Scarve has just been picked up for distribution in North America by Century Media Records.



Translucence contains 11 songs clocking in at just over 53 minutes. The disc kicks off with the brutal track "NerveCurrent9". This is probably one of the heaviest tracks on the disc. Up next is "Your Solid Waters". This track has much more of a balance between the death and clean vocals. "A New Dawn" is a bit more on the atmospheric side and has everything from death, black to melodic cleans vocals. These guys really know when and how to mix things up to create just the right blend. "Flesh Plunge" is a more groove oriented track while "Sunken Sin King" is a more typical death metal tune intermixed with the always present clean vocals. The CD closes out with the bonus track "Friends" which proclaims that the only truth lies in Pain!!!!



Scarve are obviously on the right path with their music. With Century Media picking up distribution of this CD for North America its only a matter of time before Scarve are a well known name on the metal scene. They have been compared to Devin Townsend and Strapping Young Lad. I myself don’t see the connection. Scarve have a sound that is their own and only the future will tell how that sound will develop. To find out more information about this band check out their website http://www.scarve.net