Reviews

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Isotope Isotope LP

It’s Christmas again. A perfect time to spin dark, obscure music. Exactly the kind of sound ISOTOPE delivers on their self-titled debut LP. Eight songs of raw, apocalyptic D-beat in the vein of Japanese hardcore legends BASTARD. But, instead of straightforward and short compositions, they wander the realms of metal and crust, daring to go one step beyond. I personally prefer the faster, frenetic parts, but everything is played and assembled well enough, so it works just fine as a whole. Isotope is a pretty good record that will make fans of the genre vibrate with its aggressive palm mutes, sharp, metallic guitar licks, repetitive and solid riffs, and solvent lyrics. Give it a go.

Negative Prayer Morbid EP

Three evil crushers from NEGATIVE PRAYER, for fans of GENOCIDE PACT, NECROT, and DISFEAR. “Morbid” is the standout for me here; a flurry of growling D-beat that pumps the brakes a minute-and-a-half in, detouring into a thrash-y chug before grabbing you by the throat and throwing you back into the pits (of Hell). Lyrically, NEGATIVE PRAYER isn’t exactly a ray of sunshine, but who wants that from their crusty death metal anyway?

Shrinkwrap Killers Feed the Clones Pt. 2 LP

This is a refinement to the highest degree of this project’s original mission. Carrying on the baton of the SPITS’ catchy post-apocalyptic brain damage rock, or at least hinting at it, this project carves its own identity as self-assured and grim pop songs (to a degree) buried in aeons of cosmic sludge. There’s a theatricality to the proceedings in the best way possible, especially in more dirgelike fare like “Eminent Death,” but there is nothing cornball here. The music is excellent, the melodies and harmonies laser-focused, and the scope has a space opera sheen even while keeping me mired in the muck of the gutter. If you’ll indulge me, this feels like punk’s answer to SLOUGH FEG’s cosmic RPG concept record Traveler, but while that band is mighty if terminally uncool, this project manages to construct something no less epic but much more rad. The stabs of spooky Ed Wood synth queasily piercing the tight mutoid punk never grows old, and overall this is a wealth of ideas all in one majorly satisfying package.