Slit "Cronaca Nera" CD
[Retribute]
I reviewed the self-released five-track promo version of this CD last year, so I'm glad to see that despite their unfortunate band name these Maltese thrashers have gotten some label attention. This edition of the disc sounds to have been mastered better and also includes seven more tracks than the demo, totaling a little over 40 minutes of surprisingly promising contemporary thrash with a rhythmic metalcore edge that will probably rub some people the wrong way. Admittedly some of the vocal arrangements are a little, shall we say, well... how do I broach this topic? The vocals are basically all screamed with a little bit of a distorted effect over them, but some of the vocal patterns are pretty rhythmic, so... do the math. It's not something that really bothers me, especially considering most of the music is pretty fast and the groovy elements are generally tactfully composed, but... I know it would be a sticking point for some listeners, and I don't particularly think it does the band any favors either. I actually like the sound of the guy's voice though, so... he's got a foundation to work with. "The Devil's Lexicon" and "7even Demons" contrast the band's penchant for early-90's thrash and crushing midpaced rhythms early on, "Myriad" spices up the dynamics a little more with some prominent bass work and a varied vocal performance that includes some near singing and speaking, "Paean" drops plenty of staccato runs and has a pretty damn forceful dissonant edge towards the final minute, "Integrity" is faster and a little more straightforward in terms of thrashiness blended with effective midpaced breaks, and so on. "Sinner Beyond Defile" takes the groove factor too far with a few annoying pinch harmonics and an overly lockstep surge between the vocals and power chords, but every song has its strengths, regardless of whether or not they win out in the end. The mastering job has cleaned up a few of the minor issues with the sound that I cited on their demo, but for me the recording is still the main setback keeping this disc from being a rather crushing affair. Don't get me wrong, this actually sounds pretty good, and less discerning ears might be fine with it, but it needs a little something more to really do the songs justice. There's a gap in the mix that the bass needs to be filling, for one thing, since the guitars and vocals blend well, but the drums are way too thin and crisp, and the bass is basically inaudible most of the time. So they need to turn up the bass and warm those drums over, and then give the guitars a little more of a warm clarity as well. They've got that total Exhorder bite to their distortion (circa "The Law"), which I love, but the guitars aren't really driving the material as much as they should since they're fighting for some of the space with the vocals. The drums are the most annoying element, though, so if they can just polish things up a little I think they'll be far better off. The layout looks fairly nice and uses lots of metallic bronze ink to accent the black and white visuals. The lyrics are hard as hell to read since the background panels are so damn busy, but... what can you do? Most of the songs seem to be about suffering and surviving and all that, so... you can't understand a damn word of the vocals anyway. I gave the demo version of this CD a higher rating than this full-length for a few reasons: 1. it's been a year, and I'm more critical these days, but more importantly, 2. what stands up for a demo doesn't necessarily stand up for a properly released full-length, you know? So I still think these guys have an impressive palette to build from here, but I'm not blown away. A stronger recording could've made a huge difference for this outing, however, so I'll be curious to hear what comes next. These guys could definitely win me over. (6/10)
Running time - 42:13, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Myriad, Paean, Integrity]
Retribute Records - http://www.retributerecords.com

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