December
Praying Hoping Nothing
8
What we appear to have here is a re-release of a record I didn't know existed. It’s being released in Europe with some covers thrown in for good measure. Fine and dandy. Trouble is, the band has some history and I don't know it, so I am, once again, reviewing this record dry. Take that into consideration if you already know and love this band and this CD. And you should. This thing kicks the proverbial ass. A non stop screaming groovecore fest, starting with a blast and ending with chaotic devolution. Well oiled rhythms splattered with cyanide guitars and fronted by a man in the throes of something excruciating, this is a very cathartic record. This is something you put on after a terrible day and you walk away scourged but replenished. It's NHL for the soul. The rhythm section is where it all starts, and these guys are fiends, working together like the proton and neutron at the core of an atom, everything swirls around the energy they create. The tempos are mid paced to fast, but they are broken up into funking little sections that never get boring. They use metal clichés for accents instead of backbones, and it's a potent design. The guitars are noisy and sound as though they could chew gold from stone. There aren't really any heroics here, but there is fury and emotion. The vocals for the original record are painful, a never ending scream of pure torment. And even in the midst of the screaming there is variation, degrees of suffering, and hellish peaks and valleys. Sometimes I hear nearly hardcore roaring, sometimes Anselmoan screaming and sometimes old Death Angel-ish maniacal shrieking. The fact that one of the three covers is "Seemingly Endless Time" by Death Angel leads me to believe this is no mere coincidence. Oddly, on the covers the singer spends at least as much time "singing" as he does screaming. He can, for the most part, pull it off, too. No Mike Patton, he still manages to impress. The production for the original record is dirty and crunchy, highlighting the rhythm section. On the cover songs - Selling Jesus by Skunk Anansie, the Death Angel tune and Ace of Spades by some group or other - the band is louder but somehow not as lively. These songs sound fine, but they don't grab and rend like the originals do. And I really believe covering Motorhead by anyone but Motorhead is a bad idea. I can't speak to any remastering because I never heard the original. Bottom line: This is simply a good record by a good band. I can't see why anyone who enjoys the violent side of metal wouldn't at least enjoy this, if not outright love it. I need to get with the later recordings by this band to see if they stand up to the measure set by Hoping Praying Nothing, but whether they do or not, this CD is fucking good and belongs in your collection. I will gladly listen to this again.
