Rag Men "s/t" CD
[self-released]
I love this fucking demo. I downloaded this thing off of the band's website months ago and have listened to it about a million times since, so as soon as they started selling CD-R copies of it I jumped at the chance because the mp3's were really compressed and fucked with the sound a lot. As far as their music? Shit, with a roster that includes such a seasoned lineup you really can't lose. You've got Jorge from Merauder and God is I on vocals, Mitts from Madball (ex-Skarhead) on guitar, Bulldog from Freya (ex-Earth Crisis) on bass, and Rigg Ross from Madball (ex-Hatebreed) on drums. The music is heavy as shit, but creative and a lot more melodic than you'd expect. There's a lot of burly riffing and some brutal breakdowns, and Jorge's vocals are as vicious as ever, but there's also a little bit of a rock feel to some of the playing, and the melodic riffing is darker and more sinister than usual. And yet, somehow, the songs are catchy as hell at the same time. "My World" is pretty straightforward with a good mix of tempo changes and rhythmic vocal arrangements. "Insomnia" is by far the most melodic of the bunch with a slightly more upbeat approach and memorable vocal lines. And "Obstacles" is just a fucking classic: Melodic lead lines over thick chord progressions contrasted with varying levels of vocal brutality and a hard-hitting chorus. The recording is fucking badass. Shit, if every full-length sounded like this I could deal with it, much less every demo. The guitars are heavy but clear, the drums are rigid but dense and have a great snap to 'em, the bass tone is fucking monolithic, and the vocals sound fucking dead on, hovering barely above the music. This thing sounds totally fucking pro, 100%. No shit. Great fucking work. I've heard some pretty big budget records that sound like total crap compared to this. I'd be lying if I said the packaging didn't basically suck, but what can you do? The CD-R comes in a slim jewel case and has the band name handwritten on the top, and the insert is a one-sided xerox with the band logo at the top and nothing else but a very pixilated tracklist and website URL. I would've liked to at least see the lyrics on the back or something, but... oh well. I wish this was a longer demo, because I can't get enough. I think these guys have or are about to sign a deal with a label, so... expect one rager of a full-length at some point. I damn sure can't wait. (7/10)
Running time - 10:08, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: all three are fucking insane]
Rag Men - http://www.ragmen.net

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