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"Strictly Diesel," the debut
Roadrunner release of "Spine Shank," stakes claim as
the soundtrack to the endless black pain of betrayal. The kind
of betrayal where someone you trust does a complete 360 and stabs
you in the back. Now how can I not relate to that?
Forged in February of 1996, "Spine
Shank" is Johnny Santos (vocals), Tom Decker (Drums), Mike
Sarkisyan (guitars) and Robert Garcia (bass). They bring the
hard rock stylings of a Sevendust to the table of an electronic/industrial
mayhem, creating a car crash melding of the two sounds that translates
to a perfect balance of aggression, muddy distortion and pain
induced vocals with piercing precision. In short, this record
will kick your ass.
"Spine Shank" rose from the ashes
of a former line up going under the name Basic Enigma. That band
met its end with the honest admission of Johnny, Mike and Tom,
who realized they just were not hitting the right spots. This
realization came after the band heard Fear Factory's "industrial
meet's death metal" stylings. After a short hiatus, the
three reformed as "Spine Shank" in an effort to create
a band the combined the aggression of Fear Factory and Sepultura,
with the groove and dynamics of Tool and the Deftones. Their
efforts won them the attention of Fear Factory's Dino Cazares,
who in turn offered the band an opportunity to open for Fear
Factory, opening the door to their current success.
While capturing the sound originally strived
for on their debut release, "Spine Shank" benefit from
an additional key point. Their painfully honest and amazingly
brutal lyrics. "Stovebolt" wreaks of the pain of a
relationship gone sour: "I loved you, an inconvenience to
me/ I warned you because my world you can't see/ Adored you,
that's what you think/ I beat you down and you're lying on the
floor." "Where We Fall" lambastes those not able
to accept you for who you are: "Can you keep your higher
ground when you look straight/ 'Cause where we fall is where
we rise." Dealing with the pain of being deceived on "*28":
"It's all inside of me, It's depraved/ Grows inside of me
and it suffocates/ Don't wish...it won't help." The painfully
honesty and brutal realness of Santos' words, coupled with the
pure aggression and power, make "Spine Shank's" "Strictly
Diesel" one of the most potent debuts of this year.
"Intake," "Slipper"
and "Stain" stand out as the strongest tracks on the
record, but keeping in mind that this is a record forged on strength,
the entire record is extremely impressive. "Strictly Diesel"
is most definitely a must for the hard rock connoisseur.
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