It's kind of surprising to learn that
the Taste of Blood are from Santa Cruz, CA, instead of some remote Scandinavian outpost. Instead of the usual surfer-friendly pop associated with that sleepy little college town, this quintet plays Swedish-style black metal with more credibility than even many Swedish bands can muster. Singer Derek Rydquist is one of those rare metal singers who can pull off the over-used "death grunt" vocals without sounding utterly ridiculous, but he wisely varies his attack to include hardcore-style barking and even the occasional bit of, you know, actual singing. Led by the twin-guitar attack of Tommy Legen and Chase Fraser (love these defiantly non-rock & roll names, incidentally; somehow "Chase Fraser" is inexplicably more bad-ass in this context than naming yourself "Mudshark Bildungsroman" or something like that), the band is all machine-tooled precision, both fast and tight in a style of music where little else matters.
Predator doesn't bring anything new to the black metal scene, but what
the Taste of Blood do, they do much better than most. ~ Stewart Mason