Nails : "You Will Never Be One of Us"

I have predicted 2016 as the year grind-core and power-violence breaks through into the metal mainstream. What Weekend Nachos failed to deliver is being jack hammered into your face by this band.  Their guitar tone is as nasty as you can get and still play riffs that hold together actual songs. Even then when I used the word songs here I am describing sharp bursts of anger. Grind-core has never been my forte, typically because of the genre's limited range of dynamic expression. Coloring with only the red crayon of anger can limit what you do, this band from Southern Los Angeles colors with this crayon so well, I know what I'm in for and can hold on for the jolting ride. The first song and title track fakes you out as it seems so maturity might have come into the song writing process for these guys. The message of songs like "Life is a Death Sentence" is barked with a conviction that draws you in. This also feels like some of the barked vocals lock in with the guitar to make for hookier songs on this album.  I am reminded of S.O.D , by the mantra of "your a fucking failure on the song" "Friend to All". The brutal battering ram that is "Made to Make You Fall" packs more of a punch into 45 seconds than many bands do in their entire careers."Violence is Forever" steam rolls you with the weight of the verse riff. The bass player must be a machine to keep up with this drummer. They have a more tightly coiled attack here that comes closer to a sound familiar to more main stream metal ears.

At first listen "Savage Intolerance" might seem like a more single minded tantrum `accented by blast beats before  the nightmarish roller coaster jerks into into even heavier places. Their more punk side is indulged against Kerry King like solos on "In Pain".  They grind into "Parasite" to sink their teeth briefly into a more death metal groove. They hammer a hole into your skull with "Into Quietus" which might be the heaviest song on this album of fucking heavy songs. Here what sells me on it is the range of heavy they can attack you with in the minute and a half this song has you by the ear. To me the best song is going to be the darkest so "They Come Crawling Back" really won me over. The rule here is "cool riffs alone, don't make a good song". These guys take the feral snarl of the guitar and put enough raw anger into them that they are transfigured from just being cool riffs into an honest expression of their worst feelings.


Nails main-man Todd Jones has said they won't become a band that tours extensively due to their families, which  could puts a ceiling on audience this will reach, though I think metal is ready for the next step forward into heavy. This album is being released on Nuclear Blast so that can't hurt things. The bigger label hasn't dampened any of the power, so if you are ready to scream sell out hold your breath. Fans of their previous work are getting what they asked for after "Abandon All Life " made them scream for more. I'll give this album a 10 for what it is, for them to sell me on this genre is pretty impressive.