Children Of Technology - Mayhemic Speed Anarchy [2012]

Italian speed freaks Children Of Technology have already buried themselves into the consciousnesses of voluptuous crossover enthusiasts with their 2010 debut which was highly, highly redolent of punk, thrash, grime, denim, and though relatively new to scene, they deserve some applause for the considerate punk, hardcore and thrash choices, exclusively injecting old school energy into their overt amalgamations. It's own simple sphere of influence, ''It's Time To Face The Doomsday'' was a vigorous assault of near-clamorous motorcycle frenzy and explosive outings of punk and hardcore fundamentals, and now they've decided to once again cope with their mass provider of motorcycles, Hell's Headbangers, a two-track EP being their latest penning. Despite the excitement fervent listeners will have over this, there's no need to exaggerate the fact that the motorized punks are going for standard procedure here; chaos, annihilation, and of course, motorbikes aplenty.

I say aplenty, but in truth, there's not much material here, nor would you expect anyone to cram layers and layers of buttering crossover/punk/thrash into a spurious little CD of six minutes. Children Of Technology are, as I stated, applying basic, robotized pressure on their fans with gushing frivolous and downtrodden punk dives and pumping hardcore beats, keeping the fuel burning throughout the almost ludicrous six minutes of run time. The Italians, however dominant over their moshing minions, are not really letting the eclectic listener get anything else than distorted nostalgia: they've got a rumbling bass line line sometimes crashes into the spotlight right before its fellow proponents arrive and take control of the whole stage with unhinged aggression, the drums have take much less space in the mix than the guitars, occasionally going for some perky cymbal abuse after exhausting sessions of one-dimensional blast beats, and the guitars are caked with dirt, the same way it was on the debut, conjuring crunchy and eager crossover pursuits that fit the drum rhythms perfectly in their own simpleminded sense.

You've got to accept that no matter how long these Italians are going to stay in the music business they're always going to be tied to the same aesthetic with crude leather belts, and even though their love for everything old school and everything vigorous and punk makes goosebumps perk on my skin, they're not going to be able deliver anything truly special for fans who like things nuanced now and then. Perhaps my favorite performance was the vocals, reeking of ''Sheepdog'' Mclaren of early Razor, Cro-Mags and perhaps even DRI, lashing out contemptuously shrill high-pitched shrieks to boast their crazed, anarchic cause. Anyone in desperate need of straightforward-as-fuck, broiling old school crossover should throw himself/herself right at this, but then again the debut would serve the same purpose with better overall efficiency, and that's what renders ''Mayhemic Speed Anarchy'' so simple - the only thing that won't be expunged from the listener's memory fifteen minutes after discourse is the cover art, barely memorable itself.

Highlights:
Computer World
Mayhemic Speed Anarchy

Rating: 72%

Bonehunter - Turn Up The Evil

Bonehunter are probably one of the more frivolous acts to emerge out of Finland considering the enveloping horde of excellent black metal groups shadowing the country for the last couple of years, so receiving a brief EP from this unknown lascivious trio was admittedly something that I accepted with reluctance. Needless to say that in spite off the cheesy lyrical themes, the primal grooving simplicity of the thrash/crossover punch and the grinning, pedophile shrieks of the vocalist, there was a certain modified beat and hooking simplicity that I could not just discard.

The Finns are hungry, urging for vicious sex and completely frantic; and the only thing ''Turn Up The Evil'' displays a pernicious one-dimensional appetite and a rapid succession of punk-driven black/thrash riffs modernized and augmented with a chunky guitar build, made repugnant with the vocalists evocative bark-like screams that echo pain and ravenous desire throughout. Don't think the simple-minded exposure as a sort of hindrance, because really, it's more of a libation to the likes of Abigail, Barbatos, Possessed, Destroyer 666. The entire thirteen minute span of the EP is an orgy of ruinous levity, and the group only likes to speed up - no abrupt tempo changes, no doom laden gloom, and absolutely no love for melody; just outrageous d-beat precision and percussion rushing into cadaverous ebullition and evil, licentious vulgar at its utmost potential You've simple nihilistic heavy/black barrages like ''War 666'', which is pretty akin to Midnight, or carnage that borders more to cruder black/thrash mayhem, a la Destroyer 666 or perhaps Abigail, the ''street'' face of the music always pervading.

As much as I enjoyed the the raging lust these Finns have, I think there's no need to say that ''Turn Up The Evil'' is not a release you can inspect and contemplate with complete focus on its engrossing features, because this as straightforward as you can get. No modern inclinations and non-human instruments or whatsoever, no reverence for technical/progressive elements, no flashy, ribbons and strips of pulsing enigma to adorn the ghoulish demon-goat on the cover, nothing fancy, basically, just a pack of street-thrashing mongrels hungry for grime and sex, bashing against your ears. Definitely a nice addition to your collection of enlivening punk cannibals.

Highlights:
War 666
Sweet Metal Fuck
Turn Up The Evil

Rating: 75%

Black Breath-Sentenced To Life

I honestly can't understand the connection between the pathetically crafted album art and the album title, but as long as the music is good, I couldn't care less. Black Breath are nothing like like what you've heard before this year. Well, technically they are, but when bits and fragmants of differentiating sounds get sewn together in an orgy of malevolant intesity. ''Sentenced To Life'' subsumes such a vast abundance of musical styles that at first, it wouldn't be a shock if one wouldn't be able to classify this. Fortunately, I was warned before I listened to the album, so the riffs and complication of variation didn't come as a complete surprise. If we are to classy them then the best way would be to call them death/thrash/crossover/punk, which just isn't easy to spell out.

The riffs come in a superb abundance, from clusters of death/thrash insanity, to straightforward death metal tremolos that grind you up, to crushing crossover riffs, all presented to the listener with an intense punk attitude in the background. I just love how the riffs teem and overflow with dense energy, ready to be exposed with a sudden impact of brutality. The music just never bores you, with such variety and little nuances. The songs are all kept at a short length and thus have been abridgened in order to maintain the same level of dynamics through the whole album. And I have to say, the lack of lenght has indeed increased the rate of effectiveness and freshness since the album stops at thirty-two minutes. Some tracks may slightly stray from the pervasive path of pure, crushing and plain assault of riffage. ''Endless Corpse'' is a different tune, dealing more doom than say punk or even death, with its stomping mid-pave moments, brooding melodies and only handful amount of energy. Most tracks go with a steady thrash influence lingering at the back for the most part, and the crushing energy of thrash metal only empasizes the raw power of the album. Luckily death, thrash, punk  and crossover are the only styles prevalent on this album, or else we would had a real hard time trying to comprehend things, getting hit with a different weapon everytime we would turn to understand what had struck us previously.

The vocals are the key to the maintaining the energy here. I can't quite relate the vocalist to any of the singers I know, but he sounds like a frantic death/thrasher with a lot of punk attitude and furious barking most of the time, like the riffs. ''Sentenced To Life'' would not have been the same relentlessly crushing and crazed monster if it weren't for the vocals, guiding the riffs furiously.I come to cunclusion that Black Breath have indeed created something that's different even though, the originality can only boast the quality until so much. Massive Assault, probably followed a similar path to Black Breath, only leaning more on the death side and thus pushing the thrash influence aside. Either way, Black Breath's sophomore is for fans of frantic, frenzied death/thrash that also rots of punk and hardcore to provide that amazing attitude and energy. And the album is probably another good example of the ''Music doesen't have to depend on the artwork'' formula.

Highlights:
Doomed
Home Of The Grave
Mother Abyss

Rating: 89%