Another Oppressive System "2000 - 2004: The First Four Years" CD
[Profane Existence]
Not bad at all. Here we have a discography collection covering the first four years of this band's existence. But make no mistake, they may have formed in Connecticut, but they sound far more like a Scandinavian crust band, as their crushing blend of intense heaviness and vicious male/female shouts/screams could easily fool anyone into believing the band was from Sweden. Included in reverse chronological order are split 7"s with Crossing Chaos, Human Waste, World on Welfare, and 3-Way Cum; as well as the band's self-titled 7" to boot. There's not much variety here, but that's the only minor downfall, because the songwriting is pretty damn energetic and powerful, and the production values are often strong as hell, so for the most part all of this stuff totally kills. Half of "Every Man for Himself and the Gods Against Them All" is an appropriately metallic slab of midpaced power chords; "Desperate Cry for Change" opens/closes with dissonant guitar lines ala classic Misery or something of that nature, which definitely sets it apart; "Shattered Future" is shorter and more pissed off, while "Fourth of July" cranks out some vicious speeds; "Suburban Wasteland" stands out as more memorable while still delivering a textbook blast of crusty hardcore/punk; and "King Cock" messes with some unexpected discordance that never really reappears elsewhere. The sound quality on the most recent two splits (the only two sessions to date where the band utilizes two vocalists) is a pretty close match and sounds damn near perfect, with just the right amount of dirtiness holding things down in an otherwise balanced mix chock full of warmth and density, which rules. The self-titled EP is much rawer and the percussion sounds uneven (the cymbals are louder than the drums), but aside from that mildly annoying fact I can definitely tolerate it. Louder guitars would've helped out a lot, though. The earlier splits sound thinner, but more evenly mixed, so despite lacking the overwhelming force of the newer material, they still stand up alright and possess a fittingly rugged aesthetic. The packaging looks great and collages plenty of images as well as providing you with full panels devoted to the original cover art for each release, plus all of the lyrics. Most of the content is pretty brief, and deals with your average topics of fear, oppression, and despair as related to war, greed, racism, sexism, selfishness, etc. "Mindless goals and savage intent, do we even realize how much time is spent swatting life's little flies? There's more to living, so open your eyes." Not the most original thing in the world at the end of the day, but like I said, at their best, this is some crushing material. Seriously, the songs from the splits with Crossing Chaos and Human Waste would get an easy 8/10 from me on a 7" of their own, so this band has grown a lot in four years, and if they keep that shit up then I can't fuckin' wait to hear their forthcoming full-length! Keep an eye out... (7/10)
Running time - 33:30, Tracks: 20
[Notable tracks: Every Man for Himself and the Gods Against Them All, Wings of Destruction, Another Oppressive System, Desperate Cry for Change, Suburban Wasteland, Regression]
Profane Existence - http://www.profaneexistence.com

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