Riffocity’s debut EP ‘Disciples of the Storm’ was a green set of tracks showcasing a band still finding their rhythms together while taking influence from Destruction and Slayer alike. There were some great riffs on the EP but outside of ‘The Patriot’ it left little impact on me. So, it was a surprise to find a big leap in song-writing and riff quality on this album just a year later. The biggest shock is that these Greek thrashers aren’t shy about incorporating a lasting dose of melody into their rock-influenced heavy/thrash sound. While it sounds like the band is still finding their final cohesive style ‘Under a Mourning Sky’ offers accessible melodic thrash metal across a very confident and ambitious full hour.

‘Under a Mourning Sky’ recalls, for me, an era of labels like Century Media in the early 00’s where a shitload of bands were excitedly exploring the melodic potential of extreme metal. Specifically artists like Waldemar Sorychta (Grip Inc. guitarist, producer of many) who worked to create a polished and accessible future for European metal That isn’t to say this sounds like any of those bands of the era, but it recalls that level of melodic intent and I would definitely say Riffocity’s vocal approach has improved well beyond expectations. His vocals go from heavy thrash barking to something kind of like the clean vocals from Shadows Fall. The style of thrash here is closer to mid-90’s Testament or Fight‘s long forgotten ‘War of Words’ but with vocals that lean towards alternative/groove metal at times.

I generally enjoyed my time with this record as it checks the right boxes for rock influenced heavy metal, thrash metal riffing, and has some nice melodic ideas throughout. The band surely has a ways to go before they peak and they’ve shown an incredible amount of growth in just one year and Riffocity are on the edge of a breakout release if they keep up the pace. ‘Under a Mourning Sky’ is a long record so it is hard to recommend any particular track to preview but at the very least try the opener “Hail Thy Father” and mid-album thrasher “From Inside the Arrows Come”.

Hammer that breaks the chains 3.0/5.0

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