Review of Kill The Client - Escalation of Hostility

Oh, Willowtip Records. Tipton and co. have had a scarily consistent year in 2005; no doubt they will be gracing many (read: virtually all) an extreme metal end-of-year top ten. Granted, this virtually guarantees the sort of popularity backlash that’s struck Relapse Records over the past year or two, but somehow I doubt that it will impair the label’s ability to sniff out original and well-executed death and grind. Escalation of Hostility falls into the second category. As if the band’s moniker wasn’t a dead giveaway, Kill the Client plays a vitriolic strain of grindcore that’s got one foot in the Brutal Truth/Nasum school of modernized blastmongering and the other foot sunk in the out-of-control, noisy punk of labelmates Watchmaker. A surefire crowd-pleaser for virtually any fan of modern grind, Escalation of Hostility closes out Willowtip’s year in fittingly strong (if not spectacular) form.

In a year that’s also seen releases by Rotten Sound, Circle of Dead Children, and the aforementioned Watchmaker, this shit falls right in line. Less technical and refined than Pig Destroyer and more abrasive than the late greats of Nasum, Kill the Client deliver thirty minutes of no-nonsense anger with their sophomore release. Light on the sample-laden goof factor and heavy on the high-octane outrage, the majority of Escalation of Hostility whips by in a caustic explosion, true to grind form. The riffs are universally chromatic and dissonant, but diverse enough to satisfy any serious grindcore fan and occasionally positively creative (“Decorated Dunce”), while the vocals are a barked roar that (as usual) completely bury the band’s political message. Once in a while Kill the Client will ratchet things down to a desolate, Grief-fueled crawl (“Negative One,” “Killing Fields”) either to broaden their attack or simply to show that they’re not afraid to forsake the blasting. Either way, this album is clearly intended to rend ears with speed and intensity rather than doomy weight.

Of course, all of this racket is just going to sound like more self-defeating incoherence to the more moderate metalhead, but connoisseurs of the genre will find plenty to love here. Kill the Client and their label are both very much worth supporting, and Escalation of Hostility will make a worthy addition to any speed freak’s collection.

Release Details

Kill The Client

Escalation of Hostility

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