I last encountered this Scottish band around their ‘The Human Condition’ release; their last effort did pass me by. What struck me about this band was the power and energy, they opened for Hate Eternal a while back and I was completely blown away. Move forward a few years and now on a new label, Man Must Die still knows how to kick out the cobwebs, this is bloody brutal.
If you like the aggressive side of Death metal like Aborted but also like a grind infusion like 90’s Napalm Death and Misery Index, then you have found your band. ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’ is an absolute punch in the face from beginning to end. Tight and frantic drum beats leads to some blast beats underpinned with thunderous guitar and bass sounds that make this a shock lesson in extremity. But there is much more to this release than a pure in your face sucker-punch, there is a lot more on offer. ‘The Hell I Fear’ shows the bands development and ability to calm their nurturing interest in all things from the dark side of humanity to even include some sweet melodic guitar tones which I love the sound of. This sweeps back and forth to provide a level of atmosphere in response to the tracks earlier carnage and it does not seem out of place either amongst their hybrid of technical death metal and grind.
‘The Price You Pay’ is a little different to the rest of the album, it has far more dynamics but I do find that it doesn’t necessarily work using the same vocal style with a lesser aggressive musical arrangement, but I still wouldn’t complain about it because as soon as this completes you have songs like ‘Antisocial Network’ to contend with which will surely cause a level of excitement. If you are at the front of stage when the band plays this track, be prepared for some bruises! Speaking of bruises, ‘Abuser Friendly’ features Max Cavalera of Soulfly that adds a meatier touch of glass to the already powerful aural abuse given by frontman Joe McGlynn.
This album shows the band trying out new ideas without losing the core values they set out with their first couple of album releases, its brash, hard hitting and yet melodic in places with an overall cool dynamic about it that doesn’t relent.
(7.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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