When I started writing for this site I announced I would not waste much of my time on bad reviews - and I won’t. This record has some good points, but I will never put this on again, one spin was enough for me, thanks.
The write up on the Metal Blade site says there’s almost a raw punk vibe on this record. Really? Where the hell is that? This to me is 85 percent Slayer worship to the point of cloning. The vocals are different and some of the drumming is faster, but the guitars have Slayer written all over them. Why Slayer is not mentioned in this write up is just ridiculous.
It
is a great sounding record. I am sure some people will find this very appealing, but if I wanna hear Slayer I'll listen to Slayer.
The production leaves nothing to complain about. Crisp and heavy and very audible. The vocal style fits the music well, no singing or melody here. The guys can play, it's a tight record without any sloppiness. I think for me, it's just the fact that after listening to the disc, and reading what the label and band has to say about this band, I'm sitting here wondering, how you could say you’re old school but doing something different as compared to bands of today? There has been a resurgence of old bands making comebacks and current bands showing this influence, so I don’t get it. To claim nothing thrashy is coming out anymore? Huh??? They describe themselves as street metal? I just can’t stand it.
The lyrics... Well, here’s an example:
Assassins unscavenge.
Aesthetic trauma.
Bringer of the rising tide of low carb suicide.
I seriously hate this guy's lyrics, can’t stress that enough but....
In all seriousness. If you like the type of metal with the first few notes of "Reign In Blood" rearranged eighty-nine different ways, this record is for you. It does not suck at all, it's a good record, but for me it's something I've heard a million times before. I love the older metal records and I'm glad these guys are trying to rekindle some of the old spirit, but hopefully their next record will be a bit more original. This record shows potential, as they as a group have the ingredients to make great records, but I don't think this is one of them.