By Monk
Once upon a time – well, in the early part of the last decade – Bakken were one of the great white hopes of both the Northern Irish metal scene and that on the island of Ireland as a whole. Their 2012 debut album, ‘Death Of A Hero’, was regarded as something of a marker for other bands flirting between the thrash and power metal sigils the then quartet were seeking to straddle: it was a highly accomplished offering, displaying a maturity that belied its creators’ relative youthfulness.
However, it has to be admitted that the band have subsequently struggled to build momentum: an EP, ‘Worldwide Genocide’, came along in 2014, followed by their 2020 declaration of ‘This Means War‘. But, then… the guns fell silent, perhaps due to various band members going off to concentrate, to varying degrees of success, on other projects.
That has now changed as the ammunition has been reloaded and the quintet have come storming back out of the trenches with this absolute field-levelling destroyer of an album.
While their debut saw them experimenting with a thrash/power metal crossover sound, it’s follow-up saw them moving away from the former towards a more NWoBHM-influenced take on the latter subgenre. ‘Consent…’ sees them consolidating that approach with an album that is crammed with traditional metal sensibilities combined with a confident, progressive attitude that exudes exhilaration from its every cell, fibre and pore.
There is no deception involved in my consent to this next comment, but this is singularly the best pure heavy metal album I have heard come out of Northern Ireland in a very fucking long time. No, make that a VERY FUCKING LONG TIME. If EVER.
It is as flawless as an album can be. In every respect. Every time I listen to it, I hear something new, from the lyrics through the intricately worked guitar harmonies to yet another intricacy of the mix that brings out another aspect of the collective and individual performances.
- ‘Consent To Deception‘ is out now.