Horoh - Horde Of Horror

France’s horror Death Metal duo is back with another outing, and this time Horoh have quite the cinematic treat. Formed in 2019 by J. on instruments and vocals alongside vocalist Sebastien, their debut album back in 2023 was rather the generic approach rooted in the 90s aiming for a sound similar to Cannibal Corpse or Six Feet Under mixed with touches of Incantation, always featuring plenty of groove but keeping things slow to mid paced without really ever reaching that peak speed for mosh pit frenzy. Now, it seems they’ve narrows their focus for somewhat of a concept album, similar to what Aborted has done on their latest effort, delivering 90s styled Death Metal chock full of movie samples and nods to a variety of horror films that make “Horde Of Horror” an anthology worth digging up from the grave and violating ears with.

While the music here isn’t quite crisp and polished and thundering impactful as some of the other bands out there like Hideous Divinity, the duo deliver tasteful mixes of riffs and drums similar to Deicide meets Six Feet Under and a dual vocal approach of highs and lows that sound more like SFU in their prime, but also spread out samples that are recognizable instantly like the Hellraiser one from opening ‘Chains and Pleasures’ to Frankenstein with ‘Born of Stitches.’ Others are less recognizable and obscure like the samples from ‘Wut und Blut.’ Most of the tracks are chugging almost Punk laden fun like ‘A Party of Granny’s’ full of harsh riffs and clicking drums with bellows galore. Others like the Event Horizon based ‘Liberate Me’ are more guttural and start slow with that Incantation influence and then suddenly explode with a fury that is near Brutal Death Metal territory, something that Horoh don’t do often, so it is a nice change of pace for them compared to before. And sometimes they just take off suddenly with no mercy where the guitars are almost in a melodic solo the whole time and less of that standard blast beat chug with the Thing tinged ‘Who Goes There.’ These spurts of speed though don’t always last very long as the band trudges back often to slower, mid paced moments, but it is nice to see some more fury added that can be comparable to the likes of a band like Werewolves. But still, it is the sample mixing in its unpredictable nature that helps dictate Horoh’s pace. Sometimes they seem too overlapping though, like ‘Bestial Supremacy’ where the sound is fuzzy and the vocals extremely guttural, like that of Archgoat, but when the samples are added the vocals continue, almost overshadowing them and taking away the cinematic atmosphere.

Some of the tracks are devoid of the film samples altogether, like the cover of Blood which showcases the more basic style of Horoh. Swinging hard like a good Cannibal Corpse song, it shows the bare bones of the band and offers a good mix of riffs, drums, and vocals, but at the same time shows how much the samples bring to the music to make it somewhat unique. Some of them do overstay their welcome like the haunting outro which is just one long sample to close the record, but for atmosphere and breathing room’s sake it works. Overall, Death Metal fans are going to enjoy this as “Horde Of Horror” has a variety of pace this time, and uses it well within the tracks rather than follow a predictable formula of fast, fast, mid, fast, fast, mid, slow fast and closing slow. Some of the samples used may make listeners scratch heads, but hopefully enthusiasts will go look them up and find something new to watch along with repeated listens. Horoh’s vocal deliver will probably be considered a weak link considering sometimes the vocals seem tired or faded out, but for every ‘bad moment,’ they deliver at least ten good ones in every track. Riffs are 90s galore and lyrical content will bring one back to the 90s where things were less politically correct and mosh pits could be stomping fun where we celebrate horror and gore.

3.5 / 5 STARS