In Japanese, the phrase "Mou ichido" means one more time. Vancouver deathcore hoarde WITHOUT MERCY recently ran into a snag with their former vocalist Alxs Ness, who departed the band, presumably on bad terms. Reported legal issues have prompted WITHOUT MERCY to wholly separate themselves from her, instigating this re-recording of their 2014 EP, "Reborn" with new vocalist Alex Friis. Thus "Mouchido" arrives as another renascence of sorts for the band, one which includes a cameo from CHIMAIRA's Mark Hunter. The thrash-stomp modes on "Worthless" ring like a head-on collision between DECAPITATED and BIOHAZARD with a dash of power metal thrown into the solo section. Alex Friis wrings his throat to huge extremes, hopefully leaving tissue intact as he hits agonizing squeals while throwing indictments against former band members — guess on your own who that might entail. DJ Temple's guitar work on "Worthless" is terrific with studio bassist Tristan Martin (Ryan Loewen will be band's road man) plugging equally rapid chunks beneath him. "In Waves" becomes a yowling party between Alex Friis and Mark Hunter as the band worms through mid-tempo stomp progressions and DJ Temple's hyperactive spooling. The song deals with mentally clearing a righteous path, though the message is going to be hard pressed to uncork as Friis and Hunter woof like a couple of junkyard dogs straining themselves through the pummeling chords. "Burn" afterwards is the best-structured track on the EP with drummer Matt Helie threading through thrash and crash modes and tech-heavy guitar theatrics from DJ Temple. Tristan Martin drops seismic hums as Alex Friis squeezes his guts through his esophagus as both do to more emphatic effects on the chunky "Morphine". The stitching riffs from DJ Temple will be cast upon the temples of his listeners, but Tristan Martin's funky bass solo on the track's breakdown eases the tension only enough for DJ to torch his guitar solo. Well, at least there's a God's honest reason for re-recording in this case.
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