Black Metal History Month- Revenge :'Violation.Strife.Abominate"

 

The bar is low for these guys. Their last album scored a 6.5, A six is the lowest score that can be considered listenable. They were really heavy, but not the best songwriters however if you were into grind-core sprinkled with blackened rawness, it might have been something you would give a shot. Things are more frantic and feral this time around, but not as heavy thanks to the thin guitar tone that carries a reckless buzzing to the otherwise punk frenzy going down here. I don't remember the drums sounding this bad last time. "Flashpoint Heretic" is just chaos from the onset and sounds like they recorded themselves throwing their equipment down the stairs and overdubbing the meaningless screaming over it afterward. 

When the last album came out I was not into grindcore as much as I am now. But I really loved the last Full of Hell album, which combined black metal with grindcore in a more cohesive fashion, proving you can still be insanely heavy and write a fucking song. The drummer makes more of an attempt to do so three songs in. The vocals work to thwart his trying in this regard. To fight back he goes into a blast beat. There are some lower growls, and the way the vocals are distorted at times brings early Today is the Day to mind. I am a little concerned when I see I have to endure nine more songs of this. Despite the vocals, there seems to be more form and function to "Strife Invocation".  They throw themselves into a crude punk thrashing for "Emaciated Revelation" 

The crude patter of the drums plays against any potential "Mercy Revoked" has, at best felt like early Deicide, but without the hook to the riffing. "Piety Vaporized" falls in line with the conceptual theme. The song itself is a spastic battery of sound.  "Shockwave Iconoclast" is more of the same rapid-fire temper tantrums. "Last Resort" is sadly not a Poppa Roach cover. "Aftermath" blasts by with little attempt to catch my attention. But then when I do pay attention to "Liars Rope" the results are not much better. The last song starts off with a more deliberate pound. I'll give this one a 6, as the production might not grate on the nerves of their fans, who are the only ones who will appreciate this album.For some reason,
Season of Mist is invested in thee guys.  

pst55