Despite forming in 2016, it was not until 2020 when VENATOR made their
recorded debut with the EP Paradiser. Nevertheless, the three songs
contained therein were an incredibly auspicious first start, showing
VENATOR as a band seemingly thawed out from 1983, so authentic and
skyward was their songwriting. Wrapped in a uniquely retro-futuristic
production, Paradiser pointed the way forward for VENATOR, and the buzz
began to build.
Now, that buzz is gonna boil over with the band’s full-length debut,
Echoes From the Gutter. Graced with yet another amazingly era-authentic
artwork courtesy of frontman Hans Huemer, Echoes From the Gutter takes
the melody and moodiness of its no-less-inconsiderable predecessor to
uncharted heights (and depths!) of glory, both grimy and gleaming. Right
from the record’s very first seconds, VENATOR burst and bristle with an
electricity that’s positively, stunningly addicting; ANTHEM after
ANTHEM is doled out with almost laissez-faire ease, each hook hoisted
heavenly and then brought back down to – yes – the gutter. It’s the
kind of album that walks that fine line between street-level and
upwardly-mobile, much like heavy metal’s forerunning bands of the early
1980s, when the landscape of conquest from club to stadium was still a
special dream. Or, simply submit to the emotive vocals of Huemer, whose
heart-on-sleeve clarity commands his bandmates onward, they in kind
delivering a truly impassioned performance that encompasses many speeds
and many moods, but always with those HOOKS front and center – and
fucking GODLY solos! Seriously: the solos here!!!
Anyone pining for the 1983/’84 peak of the likes of Tokyo Blade, Grim
Reaper, OZ, Witch Cross, Heavy Load, and even Judas Priest but adding to
that hallowed lineage rather than plagiarizing it, you’ve found your
new modern classic in VENATOR’s Echoes From the Gutter!