INSTINCT OF SURVIVAL
North of Nowhere
(Review from Zero Tolerance July/Aug 09)
Id heard the advance tracks, but nothing prepared me for this: nine hymns of misanthropic nihilism, unmatched in the present landscape of underground music. I would have no qualms in saying that this in the best European crust record of the decade. Its got the brutal-as-fuck atmosphere of the early Death Metal ala Autopsy, Entombed or Death, crossed with the aggressive fuck-off riffing of Deviated Instinct, Sepultura or Hellbastard and the miserable, chained to oblivion sound aesthetics of Amebix and Axegrinder. With riffs that nearly fucking snap your neck and a guitar sound both blunt and bludgeoning, simultaneously raw and cutting, the axe is at the forefront of these songs. The vocals are snarls of loathsome desperation, the production simply immaculate. The drumming is martial and pounding, adding depth and contour to what are essential simple Thrash riffs, yet the key to this is simplicity in execution and complexity in structure and composition. The self titled track is unlike anything Ive heard in crust for years, whilst the venomous barbarity and razor-sharp guitars of Human? and Suffocation are simply incredible. Fucking monolithic: get this now
5/5 Cormac OSiochain
Officially released in Ireland and the UK through Code7/PHD on the 3rd of August. Available on cd and gatefold vinyl at the Underground Movement stall at the Lowend Fest in Waterford at the end of August.
www.myspace.com/undergroundmovementireland
www.underground-movement.net
First cd pressing almost sold out, second vinyl pressing down to about 50 copies left.
