Bludgeon
World Controlled
4.9
Remember when the whole genre-splicing thing was new and cool? Back in the golden ol’ days of 2001 or 2002? Back when blending hardcore, metal subgenre X and metal subgenre Y might actually yield something worth a listen?
I do. And know what? They’re fucking over.
Yep. It’s fucking done so stick a fork in it. You wanna mix black metal, grindcore and hardcore? It’s been done. Wanna mix tech, power metal and hardcore? BTBAM beat you to it, amongst others. And for chrissakes, you actually still think mixing thrash, death and hardcore is the cool new thing or what have you? Wake the fuck up. In this case, wake the fuck up, Bludgeon.
Now, this band indubitably has many a local fan, and I can just hear them working themselves up into a righteous fury over my unfairly harsh judgment. “You don’t have to be individual or unique to be a good metal band!” howl the sycophants. “This review isn’t faaaaaaaaaaaaair!” Well, no shit. Good metal doesn’t require innovation or individuality, but at the very least it requires some high-class riff craft, and World Controlled doesn’t even have a whole lot of that. Sure, once in a while Bludgeon whip up something mildly noteworthy; “World Controlled” features a few nasty little thrash riffs, while “Hunt or Be Hunted”’s obligatory groove segments hit a little harder than the average metalcore lumber. Woo-ha.
But, as with most metalcore releases, World Controlled’s brighter moments do little to obscure the fact that Bludgeon’s songs sound like a compilation of Lamb of God and Despised Icon’s weakest riffs and bridges. Layer on a dry, clean production and a vocalist whose average (and noticeably monotone) line goes about like this:
“RAH RAH FUCKING RAH RAH RAH MOTHERFUCKER RAAAAAAAAAAH!”
And guess what you’ve got: another stylistically androgynous American metal release that utterly fails to distinguish itself from its peers. Sure, Bludgeon isn’t immediately offensive, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot these days. Good luck separating one track from the next, much less this band from their scads of sound-alikes.
