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.
As the title suggests, Fallout… acts like a companion piece to The War Within, replete with covers, re-recordings, unreleased material, and a few new tunes.
The quartet ups the anger ante, adding a handful of honest to god blastbeats to the repertoire in an effort to liven things up. For the most part, it works.
Part Heart power ballad, part Mötley CrĂĽe “Kickstart my Heart” wild-eyed shot-pounder. If you thought stripper rock was dead, you haven’t been paying attention.
Not as he-man thrash as Alien or SYL, more of a rule-breaker, which is what made City such a proud (and arguably unlistenable) creative moment in the extreme.
A raw brand of metal butchery. The band couples Eyehategod’s urgent brutality with intricate, catchy guitars, especially on “Bastard Son” and “Throne of Lies.”