I had heard a lot about this band (featuring former members of In/Humanity, Antischism, and Initial State), but this is the first time I've ever heard their music. Having no idea what to expect, and being sort of thrown off by the band name, the artwork, and the amusing messages on the traycard and booklet ("If you buy this record the terrorists will win." and "If you bought this record, the terrorists won. Way to go, asshole.", respectively), I was pretty blown away by the brief and pummeling assaults of thrashy hardcore/punk that awaited me. With most songs running about a minute each, this material is chock full of grating speeds, heavy rhythms, harsh vocal screams, and it's fucking great! At times it's pretty damn noisy and chaotic, but the playing is tight as fuck, and they have a way of arranging the riffs and keeping things concise that really works out perfectly. Starting out slower with some excellent basswork is the far more discordant and caustic "Direkt Aktionists Daily Affirmation", but other standouts are the eerie clean guitars of "Obligatory Sappy Intro" or the droning feedback and lulling hums of "Reach Down Between My Legs and Ease the Feedback". "Security" is an absolute masterpiece, though. Starting out with some plodding tempos and then speeding up at times, but never letting up from its technical bass runs or masterful sense of crushing melody that would put even His Hero is Gone to shame. The production works very well for the band's over the top style. The bass tone is very well defined and has enough density to leave a mark, the drums sound perfect, and the guitars and vocals are both abrasive but dense, fighting each other for the lead as far as volume goes. I don't have any real complaints. The layout is pretty bizarre, covered in bright yellow and pink with black artwork on matte paper. The inner pages are all in black and white, chaotically arranged and collaged together, containing lyrics, tons of art, additional information, and a heavy dose of the band's excellent sense of humor. The lyrics tend to deal with politics, as does much of the artwork and humor herein. "The corporations with a vested interest in the profits from the 'kind of war that we can win' get total approval from the public thinking that the means will justify the ends, Security from an unknown enemy, Security, Security will justify the means, How many are content to throw away their freedom while armchair generals argue for escalation?" I'm really surprised at how much I like this. I honestly sort of thought I was going to hate it because I never got into In/Humanity and I had no idea that this band would handle their sense of sarcasm so perfectly. Very, very nice. I'm impressed. Check this out for sure.
[Prank]
Running time - 19:16, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Direkt Aktionists Daily Affirmation, Rust and Flame, A Null Transmission, Security]
Prank Records - http://www.prankrecords.com
