12 Ton Sledge - Nothing To Gain

BrandonS

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Apr 5, 2003
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12 Ton Sledge - Nothing To Gain
Gomek.com - 008 - 1998-2006
By Brandon Strader

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Some occupants of Gomekkistan have reported "unusual" sounds eminating from a certain dark cave on the outskirts of town. These sounds, although unusual to the imaginary Gomekkistan natives, are pretty common in the metal world today, which is a whole different fictional world... I think it's somewhere near the planet Blaksabbathia. 12 Ton Sledge burst onto the scene with both arms swinging, blindly trying to strike something, and in the end releasing a product that is pretty hit or miss.

The production is very honest, and seems like 12 Ton Sledge are moving away from the more hi-tech methods that make music seem so lifeless lately. The guitars in both the left and right channel sound like they are actually being played by a person, and although the tone works great with the music, it seems a bit thin, perhaps lacking on the lower end. When used in powerchords, which is the majority of performance here, the tone is not as strong as it could have been. The music is very thrashy and seems to be influenced a bit by Flotsam and Jetsam, but is a bit catchier, and a lot edgier. I'm not completely sure of the F&J lyrics, but there is a lot of profanity in the music, mostly "F-Words" and there are manly screams and gutteral growls. These vocals work great with the music, but probably would have worked better if the album had stronger production. 12 Ton Sledge play their music pretty well, and seem to have most sides wrapped up as far as the musicianship goes, but the songwriting is dreadful! Each song sounds way too similar to the one that came before it, and there aren't any especially notable twists or highlights of the EP.

Overall, it's not necessarily a unique EP in any way, though it is a good thrash debut from 12 Ton Sledge, and it does show a lot of potential. Some of the songs sound like they could be featured on those "Army of One" military recruiting commercials we "love" so much, like "Tragedy", though I don't think the army would be too fond of such a song title for their commercial, hahah... If you're a fan of thrash, but more specifically, up-and-coming bands who most-likely do everything themselves, then you should probably check 12 Ton Sledge out!

6.5/10

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