Review Summary: With a couple new band members, the_Network have shifted their sound a bit to make one of the best grind release this year.
Two US tours, with one European and Australian stint and an EP later, New Hampshire grindcore act
the_Network have finally released their second LP on Black Market Activities,
Bishop Kent Manning. After a solid but rather obscure debut album, the_Network come back to the foray with an offering that can be described as quite a bit different from their previous release yet still amazing in its own right. One of the top differences witnessed in Bishop Kent Manning is the slight turn in direction of their sound when compared to their first release This is Your Pigs Portrait. In this release we see the_Network coming in with a more mathcore oriented sound that takes a lot of influence from their fellow Black Market Activities band The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza. This can be a little off-putting for fans of their previous release but to say that the_Network pulls their new sound off well it a total understatement. In fact, this could easily be one of the top grind albums to come out this year of 09.
With a little bit of an unconventional approach, the_Network have given us ten fresh new tracks that, for the most part, contain your basic three to three and a half minute song lengths which is a bit odd when considering that their debut was stuffed to the brim with micro-grind songs and quick spastic riffs. Because of this, every song is unique in its own right and doesn’t necessarily blend in together in a jumble of mix and match melodies and screams, it’s quite coherent in other words. With a new singer, the_Network have formed a sound familiar to The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, with southern influenced mathcore riffs, but they still through in their signature spastic stop/go sound with songs like ‘
Service With a Smile’ and their single off their Myspace ‘
You F*cking Fakes’. One might even confuse both singers from Tapdance Extravaganza with the_Network as being the same guy. Also, in taking quite unconventional song writing, the_Network have also thrown in a seven and a half minute epoch in the song ‘
Corpse Paint’ which starts out very soft and hold a melodramatic atmosphere throughout the entire song, quite the surprise.
In the end, Bishop Kent Manning can be seen as a darker turn for the_Network. Fans of grindcore, mathcore, and hell, even hardcore will most likely love this new offering that the_Network has given to the masses. With a couple new band members the sound has definitely been shifted a bit more, yet the heart of the band that made the band unique in their debut album is still prevalent throughout Bishop Kent Manning.
