Pissing Razors "Evolution" CD
[Spitfire]
Ugh. I'd think a band like this might improve over time, but this is actually worse than I remember them being three years ago when I last had to listen to 'em. The weird thing is that where they used to sound like a bland modern metal band ala Machine Head meets Pantera meets groovy Cavalera era Sepultura, now they sound like a bland metalcore band with nu-metal influences!? I say metalcore because some of this stuff is really simple, but not necessarily in a groovy way, but in sort of a Hatebreed way. And they have that hardcore-ish low vocal shout thing happening too. They still have groovy rhythms though, and they also pull the whole "singing vocals during the chorus" cliché, granted they don't get all poppy and catchy like actual nu-metal bands do. A lot of the riffs sound the same, if not identical to one another too, so even though the disc is short, it gets old pretty fast. There are a few moments I might classify as "pretty good", but nothing that I particularly like. The production isn't that hot either. The drums are way unnatural and somewhat annoying, I can't really make out the bass, the guitars lack crunch, and the vocals rest out front a tad. The drums are by far the biggest problem (they could've used a drum machine just as well with these results), but they need to give the bass some definition and give the guitars more warmth as well. As with most every Pissing Razors record I can remember seeing, the layout blows. Logically there's nothing one can think of to associate with the album title "Evolution" other than goofy images of circuit boards and electric currents and shit like that, eh? And it still looks bland despite the cheesy and generic choice of imagery, so not a lot of effort when into the layout at all. There are tons of annoying typos and stuff in the lyrics ("live" instead of "life", "your" instead of "you're" and stuff like that), but the lyrics don't catch me in the least anyway. "I'm gonna beat you down, If you don't turn away, I'm gonna take you back, And replace the first day..." Uhhh, sure, whatever. This sounds like Godsmack combined with Hatebreed and a tiny dash of real, actual metal. These cats need to call it a day. This honestly sounds like the byproduct of a band sitting around watching the new version of "Headbanger's Ball" to try to figure out what "sells" while taking notes about what kinds of sounds they should incorporate into their new record. I'll pass. (1/10)
Running time - 36:38, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: pick a number, it's all the same]
Spitfire Records - http://www.spitfirerecords.com

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