Critical Mass
Cold War Survivor
6.7
One of our loyal board members sent in this demo from his three-piece act, Critical Mass. They’ve since added a second guitarist and changed names, conveniently, to the title of this demo, Cold War Survivor. Hailing from the bleak and wretched haven of metal known as upstate New York, they go for the throat with a solid thrash attack. This review is frustrating me, because I’m experiencing a total brain fart. Critical Mass remind me of many bands, none of which I can really put a finger on. If I were to put them in a time frame, try to remember what thrash sounded like in the early 90’s. It’s got balls, but it’s nothing like the “thrash” of today, bands like Carnal Forge. The vocals of Dave Pannullo, also on bass guitar, are pretty sweet. At times, imagine Max Cavalera trying to sing like Tom Araya, other times, think Biohazard, while a few vocal lines are done spoken-word style, which reminded me of some old Vision of Disorder demos that you’ve probably never heard. The formidable riffage of guitarist Ian Weinstein speaks well as to the future of this band, whatever their name may be. Never too technical, Weinstein has a firm grasp of how to write effective, neck-damaging riffs. Cold War Survivor is a four-song demo, about 22 minutes in length. Each song holds up on its own, but it’s the last track, the nearly 8-minute “Lesson in Loss” that really caught my eye. Like many great songs, it takes its time to grow, slowly building in layers, getting heavier with each successive layer. This all culminates with a killer verse section that brings a little death metal riffage into the fold. The production on the demo is more than acceptable, sounding just as good, if not better, than many classic thrash albums from the genre’s heyday. The guitar tone is nicely distorted, with bite, and all instruments (vox included) are in good balance. I’m anticipating their next recording with the addition of this new guitarist. For a three-piece, they can pull if off, but a second guitar would add a lot of heft and add room to expand their sound. I don’t know about the availability of this demo, but if interested, ask “chaostheory7” on our discussion board. A nice job all around, and a strong demo performance.
