Album Rating: 3.0
Decent enough but it's a lot of generic chugging and overly stiff thanks to ferocious but ultimately colourless death metal drummer Adam Jarvis. There are times when I can't even headbang to this, when it's just a flurry of meaningless and characterless notes. There is no punk edge anymore. I do enjoy the slower bits where they throw some curve balls and a number of times they deliver a nasty riff at the climax of the song after a short build up. You start noticing there is more of a formula, and a once groundbreaking act can be neatly pidgeon holed now. What's more it's hard to tell the difference between this and book burner.
The fast bits are where the sampled drum production and its clinical grid mapping become all too apparent. When did metal become like listening to factory machinery toil and churn. It gave me an overall hollow, inhuman experience. Where is the the magic of the train flying down the tracks, just on the verge of derailing? Will a minor flub ever be allowed out of the studio that will prove it was real people who made this? All we get is a safe and overbearingly dull headache for the majority of the album. Don't put headcage on after spinning Prowler or 38 counts, its an unfavorable comparison and will make you sad.
However with bangers like The Torture Fields, Terminal Itch and House of Snakes they still do it better than most in the much maligned core genre; most of my complaints apply to the wider picture. In context this is a solid record. I appreciate they have adapted to Hayes' lower range and can't relive the early days, instead opting for a beefier sound. If they could afford to bring in a second singer to do some highs, it would solve a lot of their problems with a lack of diversity or novelty in their new music.
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