Misery Index "Retaliate" CD
[Nuclear Blast]
It's great to see a full-length from Misery Index, returning here with a slightly altered lineup (now again a trio), and what I'd say is a tighter, generally faster sound that continues to hone their influences a bit more. The general base of their sound is still a strong blend of death metal and grindcore, with lots of speed coming up this time, and well arranged vocals that vary from growling to shouting to a blend of the two, with the occasional sneering screams to boot. This time around there's even some really fucked up dissonant riffing that, when combined with the blazing speeds, almost lends a little bit of a black metal sort of feel to a couple of the rhythms. Tracks like "The Great Depression" definitely stand out a lot, what with some slightly slower riffing, a little bit of melody, memorable arrangements, etc. The churning and moderately paced "Demand the Impossible" is a definite favorite of mine, breaking out some classic death/grind devices, not to mention some wicked lead playing. Hell, to be honest, all of the slightly slower tracks really hit me, namely short but sweet ragers like "Servants of Progress". I tend to grow weary of constant speeds, so I'm really pleased that they keep the paces mixed up for the most part here. They close the disc with a cover of "Birth of Ignorance" by Brutal Truth, which is one of the most identifiable Brutal Truth songs if you ask me, so it sounds fucking great. Like their tracks from the split with Commit Suicide, the recording isn't as good as it was on their debut EP. The drums are far, far too rigid, and the bass, while audible, doesn't play a large enough role. The bass tone seems to be dead on, I just wish it were a lot louder. The guitar tone is pretty good, because even though it's not too crunchy, it has a lot of clarity, which is pretty important for some of the nuances in the more involved riffs. The drum performance is pretty fucking impressive, which helps the rigidity of the drums get by, but I'm still somewhat distracted by the tautness and volume of the percussion. The layout's alright. It's not as interesting as their past work has been, but there are some cool textures and the typeface used in the booklet is great. The lyrics are excellent, as always, unloading intelligently pointed socio-political attacks at the state of the world, the way that the best grindcore always should. "Sleepwalking through our spoon-fed lives... As evidence of times before, in chapters long forgotten, the rotting tomes of history are written by the victors, empty words are staring back as paragraphs of power leave no traces of the toiler's fate (just one massacre too many - and none too late). All the glory comes from death, desensitized in unreal fiction forms, our leaders never die - it's the working poor that fight their wars. It is written? It is rotten - their truth is dead and rotting..." I'm a huge fan of this band, I'm all about the intensity of their music, I love their lyrics and the intelligence of their message, etc. I was so blown away by their "Overthrow" EP that it's sort of hard for me to hold any of their other material up against it, but they've still got the juice. A slightly more efficient recording could make a huge difference next time out (but I can overlook most of the issues with the sound here). Good work. Oh, and this totally obliterates the new Dying Fetus record, and anyone who says otherwise is either deaf or just ignorant. (8/10)
Running time - 35:05, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: The Great Depression, Demand the Impossible, Servants of Progress, The Unbridgeable Chasm, Birth of Ignorance]
Misery Index - http://www.miseryindex.com

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