Review By James Anthony

Lock up your daughters and don your zombie-proof hardhat – it’s REAPER’S RIDDLE! After releasing a demo back in ’09 and making a name for themselves on the live circuit, Perth’s own purveyors of no-frills, hard-rockin’ heavy metal have unleashed their official debut EP, ‘A Touch of Death’ – and for those keeping score, it’s definitely worth the wait. Simple, catchy riffs and powerful vocals make this one of the more enjoyable traditional metal releases of the year thus far.

A sample from 60s horror classic ‘Night of the Living Dead ‘makes for an effective intro, creating a somewhat contradictory atmosphere of both foreboding and fun – just as any good zombie movie should do. This sets the scene for first track proper, ‘Zombified’, one of two tracks retained from the band’s earlier demo: carried by a stomping beat and a strong performance from vocalist, Clayton Mitchell it’s easy to imagine this being a live favourite. Immediately followed by the like-minded ‘Cursed’, the band have put together an iron-fisted one-two punch that will have you banging your head like a maniac in no time – fans of 80s metal in any way, shape or form should feel right at home here.

Possibly the most interesting thing about this EP however, is the two almost opposite sides of the band on display. The boisterous, good-time attitude of ‘Zombified’ and the somewhat explicit-in-nature ‘No Strings Attached’ are contrasted against the far more serious tone of the excellent ‘Fall Away’, and the surprisingly effective acoustic ballad ‘One Red Rose’, showing that there is more to this beast than first meets the eye. ‘One Red Rose’ in particular is notable for its sheer emotional weight – Mitchell’s vocals convey a perfect combination of pain, loss, and reflection, while the delicate strums of the guitars genuinely tug at the heartstrings. In a musical world of banal mediocrity, Reaper’s Riddle show that they are not afraid to take some risks, with a willingness to break the mould that will surely pay great dividends in their promising future.

The musicianship, while nothing spectacular, is as good as the songs require; there may not be any wild noodling guitar solos, but the tasteful flourishes provided by Tim Lorensene and Scott Allison that pop up here and there should be enough to keep most folks happy. Recently departed drummer Tim Baker provides a solid base for the rest of the band to build off of, while bassist Jason Edwards rumbles along underneath it all, giving the songs the extra meat they need. Ultimately, while most tracks here will sound a bit samey the first couple of spins, that’s kind of the point – just let yourself go and have a great goddamn time…with no strings attached.