Quoting from the bio of "KILLINGCULTURE," "Metal didn't die a horrible death at the clutches of limp-wristed, self-loathing alternastars and a commercial mainstream mentality with an attention span as short as the snap of a finger. It's only transformed into a gritteir, darker and more twisted beast of the genre, while out of the public eye, into an entirely new breed of sonic battery and even greater threat than before. 'KILLINGCULTURE' are now about to up the damage potential." Translation: this is a hard ass, loud, driving, industrial metal band trying to compensate with some above average instrumentals for what it lacks in vocals and any type of melody line. Serious head-bangers will probably get into this album, and there are a few tracks that stand out in the crowd, but otherwise it doesn't have much going for it.
This Los Angeles based four-some (Marcus Peyton-vocals, Scott Sargeant-guitars, Paul Puljiz-bass, Pat Magrath-drums), ". . . armed with a callous, almost mechanized aural meanstreak . . . seethe in a ballistic sphere of forward minded, modern heavy music. 'KILLINGCULTURE'S' self-titled debut can often be as subtly creative as it is corrosively spiteful. It's almost as if they have something to prove." In this reviewer's opinion they certainly do have "something" to prove - like they have some talent buried under all that noise. If this is the future of Metal, I may not be the big fan I am of the genre now.
I said there were a few tracks that at least rose above the general melee of this album. The first one is "And Hate." Not because of it's fantastic lyrics or vocals, but because of the use of some decent musical effects in the form of eerie, almost Egyption meets metal sound, throughout the song. I could appreciate this different approach to an Industrial Metal sound with an above average guitar solo, and it was definitely well produced by Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian behind the mixing board. "Lockfist" also has some good instrumental effects and subtle background support for the vocals. "The Line" is actually a good metal track, with vocals and instrumentals working together to produce a decent song. "Slave Of One" is also a fairly interesting track, and the final cut, "Ironside," is actually quite creative.
I don't usually bash a debut album like I did this one, but listening to it over and over did not make a convert out of me. As I said, serious head-bangers will probably take this album to their hearts and cherish it, but I didn't hear much in the line of redeeming qualities myself. Maybe after this band matures some they'll harness some of the instrumental talent evident, and perhaps find a balance like they did on "The Line," but their debut leaves much to be desired.
