RIFFOCITY – „Under A Mourning Sky“ (2017)

Founded back in 2013 and with only one EP – “Disciples Of The Storm” (2016) – released until now, the Greeks of RIFFOCITY are still a quite new thrash metal band and, being such, they still have to work a lot to improve their sound. It’s something you can tell from their debut LP record as well – “Under A Mourning Sky”, which appeared on 3rd March this year. The album has its moments and I suspect that its full potential has been blurred by a low-quality production and that the songs would sound so much better, when played live, because RIFFOCITY are definitely trying hard to stand out amongst their colleagues from the Greek metal scene and, in some ways, they succeed in doing so. Well, I am afraid that they still haven’t done enough – infact, the band offers something we have already listened to before. I’m not saying that no one lives in “the city of riffs” (the riffs here are pretty solid), but the most interesting thing in “Under A Mourning Sky” are the melodic parts (for example, you can listen to “Fortunes Of Death” or “Isolation”) and I hope the guys realize it soon enough. The vocals kind of hesitate between clean singing and harsh barking, so the final result is something in the middle and not in a positive way. But then again, there are a few nice surprises – the piano in “Arnis Oblivion”, the Greek (!) lyrics to its chorus and the amazing clean female vocals in the 7-minute-long “Perished Unloved”. Those three become the main reason for us to rate “Under A Mourning Sky” as “above average”.

Rating: 6/10