Black Thrash Space Metal. Those 4 words could sum up Blasted Heath’s debut album, Vela, perfectly. Its as raw and vicious as the great unknown. This group from the far reaches of Indianapolis blend dirty punk riffs with a savage death metal edge. The vocals have an eerie production effect that amplifies the reverb giving it an empty feeling that works well for their “outer space” theme they are going for.
At first glance, this album sounds almost like an homage to some early pioneers of the Black Metal sound such as punk speed and foulness of Venom and the empty darkness of Bathory. “Big Chill,” opens the album up with some nasty dark riffs and echos that match the vocals.
While the first track may feel like an homage, there is plenty going on in this recording. No 2 songs sound alike. Blasted Heath seem to love delivering a variety of styles. Besides the pummeling Blackened Thrash, Blasted Heath includes plenty of slower Doom and Sludge like elements that give the album a more psychedelic and haunting feeling. “The Wind in Vela,” is an instrumental mostly somber track except for some entrancing sound bites about the real life horrors of interstellar space.
The album closes with the 7 minute epic, “Strange Matter,” that perfectly blends the moodiness, eeriness and thrashing foulness into one song. This is definitely one of those types of albums you need to spin a few times until you “get it.”