357 Justice "s/t" CD
[Hater of God]
I was browsing the used CD's at a local store and this caught my eye thanks to the killer cover art and interesting band name. I flipped it over and saw that it was released on Hater of God - a label that's never let me down - and now it's mine. First things first: Get this fucking CD immediately. Within seconds of throwing this thing in all I could think was, "Why the fuck have I never heard of this band before!?" This shit is fucking insane. I don't know if you'd technically call it metallic hardcore or not, but there are some such influences at work. It's really more metal than hardcore, though. Whatever it is, it destroys. From moderately fast death metal riffs to melodic clean breaks or lead lines, tons of chunky midpaced mosh rhythms, menacing vocal screams, the works. Imagine a cross between Overcast at their best and All Out War or something like that. Fuck, I love this shit! All of the songs are around two to three minutes and everything is completely sinister with an uncommon sense of urgency at work. Just check out the dissonant riffing and chugga styled chord progressions of the stellar "Triumphant Pills". You can't lose, kids. The recording's not bad. The drums could use some beefing up, but you can make out the bass, the guitar tone is thick as hell, and the vocals sound really good. I like the mix for the most part, it's really dense but has a good level of texture and clarity going on. I'm fine with it for the most part. Aside from an incredible cover illustration that I fucking love, the layout is mostly text that keeps it simple. All of the lyrics are fairly pessimistic and cryptic, and I definitely enjoy that as well. "God told me that he'd murder me. Career. Wartime. Criminal. Rise. Remember when we used to scream? Those motherfuckers will never survive. And who am I?" I'm fucking stunned that I don't hear more people talk about this CD. I don't know anything about the band at all, nor do I have a clue what they're up to (if anything) at the moment, but this gets two major thumbs up from me. If you were ever big on the cream of the crop as far as 90's metalcore that's hard on the metal and you don't like this you need to get your fucking ears cleaned, dork. Very fucking recommended. (9/10)
Running time - 25:10, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: Alone, Cold and Blue, The Red Step, Moment of Clarity, Triumphant Pills]
Hater of God - http://www.haterofgod.com

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