Review Summary: Shit blows up, it's so good
As in most bands of their type, Neil Perry was always built on the singular moment where the shit would hit the fan - Iluvatar, 2006
Hailing from New Jersey,
Neil Perry crashed into the late-90’s screamo scene with a bang. Armed with tough-as-nail vocals, violent instrumentation, and a guitar tone that could make any musician weep, Neil Perry were a force that weren’t to be reckon with. While they did not last very long, they were still a very impressive band, their discography compilation
Lineage Situation showcases the band’s uncontrollable fury, making it a must have for anyone even remotely interested in heavy music.
One thing that makes this band stand out from other screamo acts from their time is their use of subtlety. “Fading Away Like The Rest Of Them” includes quiet guitar strums that add a false sense of relaxation to the track, making it all the more devastating when the distortion kicks in. “Nine Minutes Of Non-Fiction” starts out as a large, blurry mess, only to quickly fade into overwhelmingly epic territory. A vocal harmony creeps into the track as raw, unfiltered screams scratch in the background, all of which eventually stop, being replaced by haunting guitar picks that eventually fading to black as the song ends.
When these guys aren’t being grand and ambitious, they play some nasty fu
cking riffs. As mentioned above, the guitar tone on this album is absolutely perfect. It’s a great mix of crunch and fuzz, making the riffs all the move heavy. “Breathing With One Bad Lung” is a razor sharp track that gets particularly destructive near the end. The guitars thrash around, being the aural equivalent to being slapped against the head with concrete bricks, and the vocals bark against you with a boom.
Most of Neil Perry’s songs were very short, with the average length being just about a minute. This can work to their advantage, churning out riff after riff at rapid fire speed, but this can also be a flaw for them, as many of the shorter tracks are forgettable and, unless you have your eyes glued to your music playing device, unnoticeable. Hell, I can barely remember how songs like “Moria” and “Trips To Baltimore” go. In the end, however, the outstanding tracks still outweigh the bad ones, still making this a worthwhile listen.
Violent and impossible to calm down, Neil Perry can be remembered as one of the most furious bands of their time. Their discography compilation
Lineage Situation showed exactly what kind of tricks where up their sleeves, making for a worthy addition to anyone who’s into negative, noisy music.
