Massive Slavery
Global Enslavement
7
There’s a fair bit of online buzz about this new Canadian metal outfit, so considering my respect for most Canadian metal, I decided to check them out for myself. However, after spending ample time with Global Enslavement, I’m not quite ready to put them up there with Canada’s elite just yet.
Plying a form of modern urgent metal that consists of thrash, metalcore and melodic death metal, the members of Massive Slavery are no slouches when it comes to playing their instruments, being typically Canadian in their instrumental deftness. However, while still not succumbing to many of modern metal’s commercial aspects (there are no ballads, verse/chorus structures or clean vocals here), the songwriting is a little inconsistent as the band seems to be still trying to find their real style.
Even with a more technical and fierce take on their mish-mash of styles, Massive Slavery just seems a little unsure of the direction they want to take their skill in. The 10 tracks on Global Enslavement run the gamut from a technical blistering almost tech-deathcore assault (“MediaAssasiNation”) to thrashy chugs (“Shade of Corruption”) to enjoyable shredding, galloping melodeath (“Destroy, Rebuild, Repeat”), but despite plenty of Coyle Bros (God Forbid)-styled axe work and some strong rasps from Jonathan St. Pierre, nothing is instantly memorable. A perfect example is the title track which just kind of stutters and staggers with no real prose and includes some questionable deathcore pig squeals. But then the band turns right around and delivers some svelte melodeath harmonies to start “Denial of Man's Regression” and the aforementioned “Destroy, Rebuild, Repeat”. There’s just not the level of songwriting consistency to match the skill, the intelligent lyrical themes and the production values.
The later third of the album seems to find its feet a little more, with the band’s overall sound still coming across like the skill of Neuraxis meets the melodies of All That Remains, peaking with the standout closing trio of “The Wider We Open Our Eyes”, “Pull the Plug on Modern Civilization” and “Humanity’s Last Hope”. With those tracks, the band comes close to fulfilling the promise of their skill with much more compact, memorable and focused songwriting that bodes well for the future.
