This is the first full-length from this Oakland based crust trio which features Dino Sommese from Dystopia on drums as well as sharing vocal duties with Brian Clouse from Stormcrow, who is also playing bass in this project. The furious sounds unleashed on this album highlight the things I love about the Crust genre. It's heavy, yet grooving in its pummeling. There is also a dark apocalyptic mood churning from the songs. The tones coming from their blown-out amps are burly enough to belong to a sludge band, but they are played with more of a punk attitude. There is a slight touch of thrash in the hook to the riffs. Think more Voivod than Slayer in this regard.
For "As Above So Below" they pick up the pace a little. The guitars ring out to create a great deal of sonic chaos as the song's throb lurches toward you. The rasp of the vocals is articulated enough to make out they are howling about worshipping rotted flesh. I mentioned the punk attitude, however, do not let yourself be fooled into thinking this is simple three-chord bashing, arrangements have dynamic depth and owe more to Celtic Frost than Black Flag. The more doom-minded "The Exit" paints a bleak picture with the sounds they are bringing to life. It converges into a powerful chug, that is hard not to headbang to.
Things get even more downtrodden for "Peacekeeper" with the vocals vomiting out a more wretched rasp. The guitarist allows the chords to ring out to create some dynamic space for mood, as the song is allowed to breathe more than the first three. A nasty bass tone drags you deeper into the filthy world of "Misery' which holds more tension, with a punk punch to the chorus. This album shows you do not need a big-name producer or million-dollar studio to capture a great-sounding album that hits you with the weight of their live sounds while retaining the larger-than-life studio atmosphere. The guitar tones are sick as hell, but not overproduced by any stretch. They step on the gas a little for the last song, but the deliberate pace retains the power they have been pumping at you for the entire album. This is really well written and executed, the mood is dismal and real. I will give this flawless piece of crust metal a 10.It drops on October 25th.
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