Scariot - Momentum Shift

Published May 09 2007

*=Staff's pick	Redesign Fear Nothing Is Forever* Sickening World Noble Quest Forming Humans* Vast* Slaves Symbolic* The Universal

Genre	Progressive Thrash Metal	Øyvind Hægeland	Vocals
Tracks	9	Daniel Olaisen	Guitar
Runningtime	52 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Face Front	Steve DiGiorgio	Bass
Release	07 May 2007	Asgeir Mickelson	Drums
Country	Norway	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Communic, Nevermore

Scariot is a Norwegian band that is based around former Satyricon live-guitarist Daniel Olaisen. Daniel also has a past in Cobalt 60 as well as in Blood Red Throne, and in the later he went by the name of Død. The band Scariot has ten years on its neck and with Momentum Shift they see the release of the forth album from the band, the debut came in 2000 in the shape of Deathforlorn. The band has been through several changes in the line-up during the years but the creative force has always been Daniel Olaisen, and for this release he has gathered help from Øyvind Hægeland (Spiral Architect, ex-Manitou) on vocals, Asgeir Mickelson (Spiral Architect, Borknagar) on drums and no less than legendary Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, ex-Death, Testament) on bass.

The music can at first seem like raw and aggressive metal with heavy riffing, and there is no doubt that the emphasis is on of thrash metal. However, Scariot is a technically skilled band, not least band leader Daniel Olaisen who shows his skills successfully in some of the leads and solo parts, and furthermore they are no strangers to incorporate progressive metal as well as they have a maintained melodic approach. To cut it in short, you could say that this is a skilled band in the vein of Nevermore and fellow Norwegians Communic. Redesign Fear grips you right away with the crunchy riffing and the explicit bass playing followed by Nothing Is Forever, both songs are rather straightforward thrash songs with an apparent touch of Nevermore, and they provide a good start to Momentum Shift.

Sickening World is more held back in comparison to the starting songs, and Scariot is taking wider turns with the music and implies more progressive and melodic parts in it. The vocals from Øyvind Hægeland come with depth and a wide range. It has a tendency to sound a bit thin at times, but the John Arch (ex-Fates Warning) influences is something I note as positive. With the music from Scariot, and mainly in the song Forming Humans, you get a vibe of early Fates Warning in their sound. Forming Humans is one of the most progressive tracks on the album that, although based in thrash, has vocal melody lines similar to something that Fates Warning with John Arch could almost have been responsible for.

One of my personal favorites is the track Vast. Generally it is pretty straightforward where it is the heavy riffing that makes the foundations for this song, but still it is more melodic and the vocal lines feel more elaborated and it comes out as a really strong track that rises above the others. Moreover, if you ask me, this could very well be the title track, since the drive and the - yes, momentum - Vast has makes it suitable for being the title track, as Momentum Shift does not have one. The most of the Nevermore vibes come with the song Noble Quest, and if only a bit darker and just a bit more melancholic it could have been as great as these kind of songs from Nevermore if you think towards The Heart Collector for instance.

Even if Steve DiGiorgio is past of the Death legacy, he did not play on the album Symbolic, whose title track you can find a cover of here. It feels strange yet somehow refreshing to hear a Death song with clean vocals, but they seriously pull if off. And if we are to close the shop and to summon this up, Scariot in this setting contain some seriously good musicians, but the songs do not always reach all the way. The intentions are good and their formula of progressive thrash stands well against the competition, but unfortunately, a bit too much of the material passes by a bit too anonymous.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
9	7	6	6	7

Summary
6,5 chalices of 10 - Thomas