Review Summary: Fourteen minutes of pure relentless brutality from a rising three-piece.
Nails is a three-piece band that is slowly rising within the metal/hardcore community. The band has played at Vacation Vinyl, a store very closely linked to Hydra Head Records. Jacob Bannon has recently been wearing one of the band's shirts and his label, Deathwish Inc., strongly supports the band. The band has recently been signed to Southern Lord Records, who have since been whoring them out like crazy. Such endorsements puts a lot of weight on the band and the expectations of new listeners. So, does the band provide?
Yes. Hell yes. In fact, this is easily one of the best releases of 2010 thus far. The album is a mere fourteen minutes long, even further testament that the music held within must be something brilliant in order to gain this kind of popularity. The band mixes many different aspects of grindcore, hardcore, and metal and molds them into sheer brutality. The threesome would sit very comfortable with the likes of
Converge,
Trap Them, and
Tragedy and never disappoint fans of those bands if they were to tour together.
The drums pound their way throughout the album, usually at very high speeds. The bass is distorted, deep, and mean. The very low-tuned guitar thrashes power chords except for a few discordant reaches into the higher strings. The only breaks given are mid-paced breakdowns that still manage to crush every single thing around you. The production is raw and simply perfect for the sound. Thank you Kurt Ballou. It definitely has the feel of a live show, particularly in that the band isn't afraid to let feedback finds its way into the speakers. One cannot help but imagine the circle pits and headbanging craniums that occur nonstop while the music roars and be surprised when remembering that the band only contains three members.
One also cannot help but have the words harsh, heavy, brutal, and relentless run constantly through the mind while listening to this. The hoarse shouting perfectly fits both the music and the lyrics. And the shouting can easily be understood. About as pissed off as humanly possible, the goal is to assault conformity, religion, authority, and just about anyone who is deemed pathetic while also touching on the personal journey through life with the title-track and the final track.
Truly, the album's only fault is its short length. However, it is incredibly replayable and still enjoyable when on a loop. The only thing smooth about this is how great the songs move through each other. It just refuses to stop until the last seconds are up and the replay button is begging to be pushed. Expect this band to go somewhere in the future.
Unsilent Death could very well be the birth of something great.
Bow to no man, no pig, no book of myths. Tolerate no deception, no ignorance. I'm not your ***ing servant.
