Scorched Earth Tactics "Promo '02" 3
[self-released]
This is some weird sort of spastic hardcore/punk/grind hybrid from Finland. Some of the riffs are fairly straight hardcore chord progressions, then there are some note-based passages that are more rocked out, a few areas are fast and blasting grindcore, some of the vocals are regular shouts and some are lower growls, and then there are some pretty bizarre things happening as well. "Skies Above" has a weird electronic break in the middle and some funky acoustic guitars at the end, "Screamaniac" uses prominent melodic basslines and oddly sounds like a much heavier pop punk track with aggressive vocals and some spoken passages (And then there's that total smooth jazz part in the middle that leads into some dissonant Dillinger-esque riffing!?), while "Anti-Hope" is probably the best song simply because it's the most cohesive and memorable without abandoning their diversity - there's a lot of relatively straightforward hardcore, but also some great melodic lead lines and fast paced changes. The production needs work. The main thing that's missing is bass. The guitar tone is rough around the edges and leaves some holes, and there's no bass presence to thicken things up. The drums and vocals sound okay, but I'd tighten up the guitar tone (adding more distortion as well) and jack the bass way up so that all of the elements are even. The CD-R comes in a small jewel case with a simple, and I mean simple black and white cover. The front has the band name, a little fire icon, and the title, the back has the tracklist and the band's contact addresses. That's it. It's not exactly exciting or informative, but I suppose it gets the basics out there. This is a curious effort, but nothing that really gets me going just yet. I'm interested in their unique approach, but they're not winning me over because some of the variety isn't used in a way that makes sense, and the presentation of the CD is far less curious than the music itself. (5/10)
Running time - 9:44, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: Anti-Hope]
Scorched Earth Tactics - http://www.scorched.org

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