Hard rock that wouldn’t’ve sounded out of place in the early ’90s, alongside bands like Soundgarden, The Obsessed, Mother Love Bone, and Alice In Chains.
As iron-willed as God Hates Us All, Christ Illusion brings back the smarter breakdowns, riffs that don’t always revolve around the low E, and different tunings.
It doesn’t engulf you in 100+ degree body heat, hand you a beer, or put an arm around you. You can’t fit that in your car, so this is a good road trip record.
Mixing the savage rage of The Code Is Red with the angular and experimental sounds of the underrated Diatribes, there’s never a dull moment on Smear Campaign.
Kitty delivers deliberate and cutesy vocals like The Dickies’ Leonard Phillips, but without his girlie warble. “Matter of Time” deserves a review all its own.
It’s taken years for people to decide Dance of Death wasn’t so hot and Brave New World was good. Most are putting this with Brave New World, and I agree.
Both beautifully orchestrated quirk-pop with a soaring female vocal, and a trip-hop and world music-inspired Morrissey drowning in over-clever verbosity.
The compositional/functional/found-noise/skronking guitar hum and hollering/bewildered singing are intact. Everything’s sharper, tenser, and wound tighter.