It’s rare thing indeed, that a band manage to sustain themselves for eleven albums. It’s a back catalogue achievement that is usually reserved for stadium bothering behemoths such as U2, The Rolling Stones and Green Day and whilst those band comparisons from a longevity perspective may seem incongruous within the hallowed virtual pages of this esteemed website, Today Is The Day have made it their mission to confound, innovate and espouse musical conventions since their  inception in 1991 and this honourable mission statement is also true of this, their eleventh full length effort.

Primarily, their first three releases blasted the metal scene apart starting in 1993. These albums circumvented conventional thinking about what metal should sound like and although I can’t claim to have been a fan of TITD from way back in the day, I do remember hearing their songs around 1994, which was a halcyon time for metal which saw (amongst others) Pantera’s ‘Far Beyond Driven’, Helmet’s ‘Betty’, Nailbomb’s ‘Point Blank’ and Korn’s self-titled album come out and it really seemed that metal ruled the world and dominated the album charts. Whilst Iron Maiden, AC/DC and the rest of metal nomenklatura were (and still are) an important part of any self-confessed metal fans day to day, the music from these bands, at this time, seemed fresh, invigorating, new, pulse-racingly important and boundary pushing. I may be guilty of viewing this period of time through rose tinted glasses, but TITD and the rest of the class of 94, seemed to take metal and twist it, subjugating it into their own form of grotesquely oblique figurines.

TITD were and are remain the brainchild of Nashville, Tennessee’s frontman/guitarist/overlord, Steve Austin and a revolving band of musicians (including nascent Mastodon bassist Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor in one incarnation) and he was singlehandedly credited with creating a new subgenre of metal incorporating samples from films, industrial beats and ten ton heavy riffs that would probably best be described as ‘Noise Metal’ but that would be a disservice to their output which is punishing blend of grindcore, hardcore, post hardcore and experimental slices of metal nirvana…plus the kitchen sink.

And so, they return in 2020 with a new album which continues to push the envelope in terms of its musical scope. It’s tar thick bass wouldn’t sound out of place at a dingy drum and bass club in South London, literally enveloping your head and suffocating your rib cage, as the drums slam and twirl on opening track ‘No Good To Anyone’ as Austin’s vocals cut a swathe though the pointed riffs. It’s a pretty decent mid-tempo opener, a statement of intent and although it will feel familiar to fans of the band, it still sounds fresh (putrid) and vital, unlike many of the bands that tried to imitate and copy what this band have been done for decades. The album them segues into warmer, more delicate territories, more avant-garde, jazz infused Alice In Chains flavoured tunes that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on AIC’s ‘Jar of Flies/Sap’ (also released in 1994). There is also an element of doomy, sludge metal on show here as the tempo slows again and tribal drums herald a little light amongst the shade. It then pivots again and it’s into ‘good old boys’ southern blues/metal grooves that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Clutch record before it pivots again like a zombified Strictly Come Dancing contestant and back into grinding, double bass drum led metal vignettes on ‘You’re All Going To Die’.

Album closer, ‘Rockets And Dreams’ in a microcosm, sums up TITD, it’s world away from the dirt, grime and percussive aural nightmare of their earlier efforts on both this albums and their back catalogue, as the song segues from a traditional verse, chorus, verse paradigm and spirals into a transcendental amalgam of samples, keyboard slices of heavenly choruses that sound like a metallic version of the soundtrack from Bladerunner before a brutal distorted chorus of the Star Spangled Banner, crudely disturbs the melancholy before cutting out completely to leave you floundering in the dark.

Whilst this may not (quite) touch the majesty of their first two or three albums, it’s without doubt, a joy that we still have this band in active service. This album is one of contrasts, twists and turns and a reminder that TITD are owed a great debt by the majority of metal bands out there today who wouldn’t be playing if it weren’t for the genius of Steve Austin. The fact he has managed to create this album in the midst of personal issues and a life threating accident, is a miracle in itself.

(8.5/10 Nick Griffiths)

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