Hoods "Pray for Death" CD
[Victory]
Hell yeah, everything that was wrong with their last record has been corrected this time out. The writing is way more fluid and cohesive, there aren't anymore sloppy or out of place metal riffs, the recording is a lot more powerful... I'm liking this. Nothing but brutal, hateful metalcore the way it should be in my opinion. The songs are short, there are tons of changeups from fast, somewhat traditional hardcore chord progressions to pulverizing mosh rhythms, the over the top vocals still remind me of 25 ta Life with more enunciation, etc. "I Own You" starts out with some clean guitars and slower tempos and is generally darker than most of the record until it picks up the pace and kicks in with some textbook metalcore using a classic mid-90's sort of European flare as far as the moderate Slayer riffing and such is concerned. On the other hand, "E Pugne Limpio" is a little confusing because it's far more upbeat and punk influenced musically than anything else herein, so I'm not sure where that came from. As far as the recording, the guitar tone is massive, the bass tone is even more massive, the vocals sound killer, and the drums are pretty tight as well. I could stand for a slightly more natural tone on the drumming, but it's no big deal. The guitars and bass are so fucking dense that they pretty much keep everything else in check. This is a great sound for their style, definitely. However, the layout is sadly immature and makes no senses to me at all. These guys have put out their most ferocious and brutal record to date, it's the best they've ever sounded, and so they've decided to ruin that vibe by using an illustration of a bunch of bucktoothed punk rockers moshing on their front cover!? And under the CD tray they went and put a photo of the band posing all goofy with fake buckteeth in their mouths? What the fuck is that all about? Why? I mean... come on, there's no fuckin' around on this record so why destroy the cohesiveness with a visual appearance that's so lighthearted? The lyrics have repetitive themes of hatred, violence, depression, vengeance, and more hatred and violence with a dash of depression and vengeance. "In this time of hatred I choose loneliness, And this pain I feel inside makes me want to kill you, I own you, The pain you've given me all the years of torture years of abuse, I can't think straight I just want to kill you, All the pain you've given me all the years of torture years of abuse, And when you see me coming I've got something for you, I want to watch you die, I own you." These guys are definitely one of the best metalcore bands on the west coast, because there aren't enough bands out there staying true to this style as it is, but there are even fewer once you leave the east coast... (7/10)
Running time - 25:05, Tracks: 14
[Notable tracks: Bastard, Days in Hades, I Own You, On the Way to San Francisco]
Victory Records - http://www.victoryrecords.com

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