Kill the Client "Wage Slave" CD
[Counterintelligence]
I know two things about this band: 1. They've got a former member of Kalibas in their ranks, and 2. They rip through 11 tracks in 14 minutes and fucking kick ass! This is blistering fucking grindcore with a hint of death metal to it that sort of reminds me of a tighter and more technical take on classic Napalm Death or something like that. The songs are all short as fuck (right around a minute each) and the songwriting is a perfect mix of blazing motherfucking speed and intense slower breaks that never lacks power, which is incredibly hard to do. Incredibly hard. Most of the time bands play fast and get tiring, but this shit is all go. You'll get everything from classic grind sensibilities to shredding Morbid Angel/Angelcorpse riffing (see the tail end of the title track), or slower runs that either hit the chunkier breakdown variety or more of a winding sort of vibe. Trust me though, none of the "slower" riffs get all that slow! The vocals are indecipherably barked growls that keep consistent vocal arrangements and lean into screaming on occasion. This is great stuff. "Bio-Bomb" is textbook grindcore mastery, "America... Sold!" is just a smidge longer than the others and messes with more tempo changes, and "Magic Bullet Theory" breaks out the caustic dissonance. The recording is slightly on the thin side, but it works fine because it's clear and the mix is balanced, so they only need minimal work. The rigidity of the percussion is perfectly kept in check, and I actually find the guitar tone to be pretty damn awesome, so I might just recommend making the bass more prominent and adding some thickness to the kick drums? Either way it sounds damn good for what it is, and that's to say it's of a higher level of quality than most such bands you're going to come across in this genre. The layout's consistent and has some interesting artwork collaged together with images of faceless businessmen against corroded industrial textures and dollar bills. The text inside the booklet is slightly pixilated, but it still gets the job done. No lyrics are included, just brief hints at what the songs are dealing with. The content deals largely with topics representative of the band name and album title: Greed, corruption, profit, etc. A couple of songs deal with some of these issues as they more subtly relate to war and power, etc. Fucking awesome all around. One of the best grind records I've heard in the last few years, and god damn sure a band to watch out for. Get this. (9/10)
Running time - 14:10, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Wage Slave, Bio-Bomb, America... Sold!, Magic Bullet Theory, Hand Divine]
Counterintelligence Recordings - http://www.counterhq.com

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