All the way from Copenhagen.
A huge Soilwork fan, someone suggested I listen to a band called Raunchy. Particularly, their album “Death Pop Romance.” I have to admit, I had no interest in listening to them. I thought Raunchy was a terrible name for a band, and I figured any album that included both ‘pop’ and ‘romance’ in the title couldn’t possibly be good.
But my curiosity was peaked when I learned they were from Denmark. After listening to countless melodic death metal bands from Finland and Sweden, I was curious to see what Denmark had to offer. And I was pleasantly surprised! An infusion of melodic metal, thrash, and industrial gives this band a very definable sound. And the contrast between Kasper Thomsen’s screams and clean vocals sounds stellar. I like a little variety in my metal — a back-and-forth between screaming and melodic vocals, and this balance is something Raunchy pulls off really well. Furthermore, the electronic parts in “Death Pop Romance” are so prominent, it gives the melodies a unique twist not usually heard in this genre.
I did manage to listen to a few songs from the previous albums as well. The band has definitely refined its sound since then, and the vocals, drumming, and guitar have all improved noticeably. As far as I could tell from the two older songs I heard, the band wasn’t nearly as melodic as they are now. It was much heavier before, and there was a whole lot of talk-screaming rather than sing-screaming, if that makes sense. Something I, personally, get bored of very quickly. Fortunately, Raunchy seemed to hit its melodic stride with “Death Pop Romance.”
Another album was released a few years ago, and now an official a fan of Raunchy’s newer stuff, I’ll be listening to that one very soon. If you like Soilwork, Mnemic, or Sonic Syndicate you might want to check Raunchy out.
