CRISIS Like Sheep Led To Slaughter
COR Records/The End Records
2004
www.CrisisSite.com
www.KarynCrisis.com
1. Omen
2. Waking The Dead
3. A Graveyard for Bitches
4. Nomad
5. Politics Of Domination
6. Blood Burden
7. Rats In A Maze
8. Secrets of The Prison House
9. Corpus Apocalypse
10. Study In Cancer
11. Exit Catacomb
12. The Fate
It's been nearly seven years since the release of CRISIS' last album, The Hollowing, an album that I hold in high regard. No longer on Metal Blade, CRISIS have found a home at The End Records, which is probably a better fit for them anyway, considering the incredibly diverse acts on the label's roster. For the uninitiated, what do CRISIS sound like? That's a tough one to pigeonhole. One minute they're tribal, another they're crusty, one moment they are calm and serene, and the next they are a bulldozer tearing down the path looking to pummel you, the listener, into oblivion.
A lot of this rides on vocalist Karyn Crisis, who can sound like an angel and at the drop of a dime switch to a snarling, demonic witch! She sounds like she was actually raped by Lucifer himself and is now on a crusade hell bent for vengeance. That's not to make light of the band of musicians though, as they are a more than capable backdrop to the sounds of their vocalist's spewing vitriol.
So, is Like Sheep Led To Slaughter worth the wait?
The answer: every last second. A sludgefest of intensity, this is right up there with the latest from NEUROSIS, MASTODON and the like. Granted, there are moments when Crisis' voice is just so out there and over the top that it can grate on the ears/nerves. Case in point, that weird "aaawooo" sound she makes during "A Graveyard For Bitches" (gotta love that title!). Where in the hell did she come up with that one?
If you check out one song from them, listen to "Nomad." This song sums them up really well, an up and down and back around kind of number. Everytime they come back to that chorus, I just wanna grab the closest inanimate object and smash it and gleefully go on a destructive rampage! Also, love the riff at the 1:40 mark of "Politics Of Domination." Guitarist Afzaal Nasiruddeen's use of dischord and harmonics rivals that of NAPALM DEATH, a very useful and efficient approach to her voice, I'm sure.
"Rats In A Maze" is an eerie minute and fifteen seconds featuring only Crisis' vocals multi-tracked. It serves as an intro to "Secrets Of the Prison House," and it's also a line repeated there. Let me make mention of lyrics here, as she has penned some of the best I've read in a long time. No quotes would do them justice as they are part of a whole, so take my word for it and just read them yourself.
Whoever sequenced this release was brilliant as there is no danger of drifting attention spans; there's so much going on that I must admit, I've had this promo for a month or so now and that's how long it's taken for me to fully wrap my head around this one unbiased. What's even more amazing is that Billy Anderson recorded, mixed and engineered all of this in two studio sessions. The first lasting nine days, the second only five, with a 3 month period separating them! Everything sounds as if it were slaved over, honed to prefection I guess you could say.
I will go out on a limb and say Like Sheep Led To Slaughter could very well be the most criminally slept on album of 2004 thus far.
Rating: 9/10
Papa Josh
COR Records/The End Records
2004
www.CrisisSite.com
www.KarynCrisis.com
1. Omen
2. Waking The Dead
3. A Graveyard for Bitches
4. Nomad
5. Politics Of Domination
6. Blood Burden
7. Rats In A Maze
8. Secrets of The Prison House
9. Corpus Apocalypse
10. Study In Cancer
11. Exit Catacomb
12. The Fate
It's been nearly seven years since the release of CRISIS' last album, The Hollowing, an album that I hold in high regard. No longer on Metal Blade, CRISIS have found a home at The End Records, which is probably a better fit for them anyway, considering the incredibly diverse acts on the label's roster. For the uninitiated, what do CRISIS sound like? That's a tough one to pigeonhole. One minute they're tribal, another they're crusty, one moment they are calm and serene, and the next they are a bulldozer tearing down the path looking to pummel you, the listener, into oblivion.
A lot of this rides on vocalist Karyn Crisis, who can sound like an angel and at the drop of a dime switch to a snarling, demonic witch! She sounds like she was actually raped by Lucifer himself and is now on a crusade hell bent for vengeance. That's not to make light of the band of musicians though, as they are a more than capable backdrop to the sounds of their vocalist's spewing vitriol.
So, is Like Sheep Led To Slaughter worth the wait?
The answer: every last second. A sludgefest of intensity, this is right up there with the latest from NEUROSIS, MASTODON and the like. Granted, there are moments when Crisis' voice is just so out there and over the top that it can grate on the ears/nerves. Case in point, that weird "aaawooo" sound she makes during "A Graveyard For Bitches" (gotta love that title!). Where in the hell did she come up with that one?
If you check out one song from them, listen to "Nomad." This song sums them up really well, an up and down and back around kind of number. Everytime they come back to that chorus, I just wanna grab the closest inanimate object and smash it and gleefully go on a destructive rampage! Also, love the riff at the 1:40 mark of "Politics Of Domination." Guitarist Afzaal Nasiruddeen's use of dischord and harmonics rivals that of NAPALM DEATH, a very useful and efficient approach to her voice, I'm sure.
"Rats In A Maze" is an eerie minute and fifteen seconds featuring only Crisis' vocals multi-tracked. It serves as an intro to "Secrets Of the Prison House," and it's also a line repeated there. Let me make mention of lyrics here, as she has penned some of the best I've read in a long time. No quotes would do them justice as they are part of a whole, so take my word for it and just read them yourself.
Whoever sequenced this release was brilliant as there is no danger of drifting attention spans; there's so much going on that I must admit, I've had this promo for a month or so now and that's how long it's taken for me to fully wrap my head around this one unbiased. What's even more amazing is that Billy Anderson recorded, mixed and engineered all of this in two studio sessions. The first lasting nine days, the second only five, with a 3 month period separating them! Everything sounds as if it were slaved over, honed to prefection I guess you could say.
I will go out on a limb and say Like Sheep Led To Slaughter could very well be the most criminally slept on album of 2004 thus far.
Rating: 9/10
Papa Josh
