EP Review: Hands of Thieves – Feasting On Dark Intentions (Hellthrasher Productions)

The debut offering, Feasting on Dark Intentions from Portland-based metal band, Hands of Thieves will be available in digipak CD format on July 7th 2017 via Hellthrasher Productions.

This EP might be only 4 tracks long but it comes in at over 36 minutes long. That’s longer then many albums!

The effects at the start of Wrath Weaver are unsettling & odd. Even more so when it erupts into a furious blend of sludgy death & doom metal with a hint of groove. Its anger is focused though on supplying exciting riffs & bundles of rhythm with the vocals pushing the ferocious elements to higher heights.

Hands of Thieves are clearly not interested in sticking to a simple, hammer as hard as you can formula as there are plenty of imaginative moments too. The 10 minute vibe of Violated at Heart that drips atmosphere & the rolling drum beat that ups the ante of Sun Mocker. Hands of Thieves have plenty of filthy sounding gas in the engine.

Feasting on Dark Intentions finishes up with 12 minutes of moody, riff heavy metal that is seductive in style. Like a snake whispering in your ear to take a bite out of the forbidden apple. It’s a long one & while it starts to feel a bit flabby around the middle, it’s still a well put together & interesting final track. It especially pulls things back near the end with some really thumping sludge.

A mighty fine offering from Hands of Thieves that breaks a lot of the usual expectations surrounding sludgy doom/death metal mixes.

Hands of Thieves – Feasting on Dark Intentions Full Track Listing:

1. Wrath Weaver
2. Violated at Heart
3. Sun Mocker
4. Conduit of Grief

You can pick up Wrath Weave now over on Bandcamp & find out much more about Hands of Thieves on Facebook.