Havok - Unnatural Selection Review

Havok - Unnatural Selection [Thrash Metal / Punk]

It's a given that thrash metal would not have existed if Slayer had not created a storm by bottling the lightning speeds of hard rock and the rebellious youth of punk together on their earlier records. Whilst the majority of the world will remain divided on whether the Metallica path or the Slayer path captures the essence of the genre better, there are a select few that have decided to go down the punk route (let's not forget that punk also gave way to d-beat and subsequently, and even more importantly, grindcore). It's therefore logical for Havok, as harbingers of the thrash metal resurgence (which I personally do not dig, but this is purely personal), to go even further back and establish themselves from their peers to embrace a more punk vibe on their latest, third offering.



However, fans of their masterpiece 'Time Is Up' may have to be more patient with this record. Where the former saw the band with rushed beats and a sense of urgent aggression, this album is a cruise on the road to 80s anarcho punk, with few heavy or aggressive moments. In fact, there's a strangely relaxed atmosphere on the album, with crooning, sung choruses (sung, not yelled), and mostly mid-temp drumming.


Very easily, the album is more or less homage to the older generations, without having to change the formula for the current generation (as opposed to Revocation's mix of thrash metal and technical death metal, or Vektor's progressive, psychedelic thrash). Songs like 'Waste Of Life' sound like they should be on a Megadeth album (and a pity, since Megadeth's latest is a comedy), whilst the speed of their previous offerings are all contained within opener 'I Am The State'. 'It Is True', on the other, shows the actual evolution of the band, with restrained riffing, allowing new bassist Michael Leon some showtime, though he seems content with staying behind Reece Scruggs' and David Sanchez's guitars. What is interesting to note, is the way the chorus is executed, with tempos slowing rather than intensifying. Strangely enough, this works to it's advantage in helping the band sound fresh and (gasp!) mature.


The sad thing however, is that the energy dies by the time the band hits the half-time mark. Not that there are no interesting moments, but the album starts to rest on these moments rather than the songs themselves, which doesn't run well with the strong songs in the beginning. 'Worse Than War' has an interesting opening riff that is barely used through the tired trudge of the verses. The bridge also doesn't deviate further from the actual riff and the tempo is barely changed. Ditto for 'Chasing The Edge', that flirts with pinch harmonics on it's intro, a surprisingly fresh feature on thrash metal, but the experimentation stops there. It barely peaks with a syncopated bridge, but nothing else is done to save the song. 'Living Nightmare' doesn't bring anything new, neither does it feel energetic.


The last two track, however, are interesting. There is the Black Sabbath cover 'Children Of The Grave', which is a surprisingly executed reimagination of the 70s classic. David Sanchez's vocals are also semi-decent, he is definitely not a master of singing but his lips pay homage to their influences and he is at least tolerable. On the other hand, the title track is a sudden return to the almost-there speed Havok captured on 'Time Is Up'. It is not the greatest song but compared to the middle tracks, it does remind you of the band that seemed like the clearest winner in the competition for thrash revival.


The album, in a nutshell, confirms my thoughts on Havok, that the band's talent rests on drummer Pete Webber. Not that the other members suck, no, they are excellent riff-writers and know their place in their music, but where the rest are content with putting meat on the bones, Webber is the force of the band. He plays with signature, conviction, speed and decent experimentation. His death metal fills and his pounding sense of urgency is what made me return to 'Time Is Up' so frequently. Where there was a mastery of dynamics between verses and chorus, here seems like a tired attempt at the more political message of thrash metal. My personal opinion? This should have  been an EP with less songs. It's definitely a grower though, and it sounds a lot better than when I first heard it a month ago.

★★★☆☆ Average - Half of album is listenable

The Neighbourhood - I Love You Review

The Neighbourhood - I Love You [Indie Pop]

Quite widely penned for it's immaturity and it's poorly written lyrics (the latter of which I whole-heartedly agree with), The Neighbourhood's EP and, subsequently, this debut album have created quite a storm on Internet on visual mediums like Tumblr. I myself only came to discovering the band after my friend linked me the lead single on Youtube; 'Female Robbery'.


It's easy to see why the lead single clearly misdirects your anticipation for the album, because the broody, atmospheric lull of the single isn't at all reciprocated in the rest of the album. In fact, the single seems like a carefully planned marketting ploy in the wake of the colossal impact of Lana Del Ray's signature style of slow, glacial songs with seemingly 'deep' subject matter. I mean no disrespect- no wait, that's a lie, but the annoyingly narcissistic nature of today's emotional songs will piss you off after you've been through much more colossal albums than this. That said, shallowness doesn't really matter in the music, though it paints the picture of the artiste and indicates how you're expected to appreciate it. Here, The Neighbourhood melds influences from other genres, particularly indie rock and rap, in what results in an ironically pop album, that is exciting on the surface because of the relatively fresh approach in sound that masks the atypical pop song structures on I Love You.

The lead single, however, is dazzling in it's use of 'screams' (either guitar effects or a highly distorted human scream) as atmosphere, repeating them even, and that is a highlight in the album. However, like the rest of the strengths on the album, it's shortlived. There are numerous instances when the band uses alternative sounds or instruments for the melody, such as on 'Sweater Weather'. However,the album tosses up the strengths of their earlier EPs with the modern radio sound, with crooned lyrics of angst to appeal to the adolescents and post-hip hop rhythms for a wider audience, though the mismatch of slick, groovy beats highly contradict the thick, sharp atmospheres borrowed from the post-rock arena (now conveniently just labelled 'indie' by society).

As for the lyrics, I leave that to the listener. Lyrics are subjective to the listener, since I am not going to make you any more mature by convincing you these are poorly written lyrics.

★★☆☆☆ Passable - One or two good songs, a bit of flow

Wormed - Exodromos Review

Wormed - Exodromos [Technical Death Metal]

Get ready for superior musicianship.


Within the first minute of the opening track 'Nucleon', the music undergoes 10 time signature changes. And not simple ones too. The first album in almost a decade by the Spanish death metallers, Exodromos is fast, dazzlingly technical (which is saying something in 2013), but importantly, atmospheric. The combination of doom and drone atmospherics fill in what little gaps there are between the blastbeats, the are numerous but short guitar solos (if you dig that shit), the drums are fast (though not eschewing the usual over-processed click sound of today), and bass is barely audible, though sufficient, in my opinion.

The vocalist uses pig squeal as his main medium.



While the usual theatrics are done to death, what makes this album outstanding is it's rapid flow. It's far from schizophrenic, it feels like an extreme case of ADHD, and the songs are short and sweet without sacrificing flavour, and in this case, its a cold, bleak atmosphere. Like their peers in Decrepit Birth, Wormed manage to capture the visual aspect of a dystopic, futuristic sound with an adherence to sci-fi melodies, or emulating machines through their guitar solos (very unlike the staccato riffing of Fear Factory). Unlike Decrepit Birth, however, the drummer here chooses from a broader plethora of drum fills, though this is sparse in the song-writing in relation to the blastbeats; the drummer changes his timings with astounding relevance whilst keeping faith to the speed and brutality commanded by the songs. Then again, the time signatures are the constant emphasis here. The guitarists shred to create fills rather than to cement a solo section in the songs, this is done by keeping the highs in the mix relatively buried so that the shredding does not stand out. Also, the solos are well weaved into the riffs, making the song structures tighter and adding to the rapidity of the flow of the album. The production has been absolute and effective here, but I wished more bands used a more organic drum sound.

In terms to negative points on the album, because of the chaotic nature of the music, it's hard to appreciate if you were already accustomed to the guitar theatrics of the genre (thanks to Decrepit Birth). As the album works better as the sum of its parts rather than in its individual songs, it works against the accessibility of the album, though as I said, it has a highly interchangeable sound. Either of which may put of listeners. Also, the bleakness of the album, as opposed to the lively robustness of last year's Cryptopsy, might be a deciding factor as to whether you will dig this album.

All in all, I think this is definitely one of the better albums of the year of disappointing metal releases (so far). It doesn't do anything to change the formula but it works toward perfecting the existing material. With the musicians holding back on their ridiculously technical prowess and concentrating on the concept of the album, this may polarize fans of the death metal genre.

★★★★☆