GUEST REVIEW: P.O.O.R. - EXTINCTION OF TRUST

Continuing our series of metal reviews by non-metal fans, Mister Growl welcomes back guest reviewer Shane Frasier, Acquired Taste Booking owner and creator of the Behemoth Music Festival (a series of concerts in Upstate New York that recently reached down into Brooklyn). He has also been a member of roughly seven thousand bands, ranging from hardcore punk (Daytime Soiree) to electronic/dance music (Mr. Owl) to eccentric insanity (The Lanky Mofos and The Bumblebees). He was nice enough to accept our invitation and review the new release from P.O.O.R. (Point of Our Resistance), their album Exttinction of Trust. With the NSA ‘bating while listening to our calls and reading our e-mails and more toxins filling our food every day it’s a perfect time to listen to this album:

“I always thought the saying, 'It's the little things in life', was bullshit. Really? Are you really content with the little things in life? If a gentle breeze whiffed by your face for a few seconds on a brutally hot summer day would you really say to yourself, 'That made my day'? No, you wouldn't, and don't lie to me, because I know who you and know where you live and will make you tell the truth. But, for the first time ever, I found myself uttering this phrase while listening to P.O.O.R's album, Extinction Of Trust.

What I am trying to say here is that you don't need to be fancy in order to deliver good music, and P.O.O.R does it well. Fitting itself somewhere between thrash, grindcore and hardcore, Extinction Of Trust passes you by quickly (Not having a song longer than 2:26), but leaves a fun, lasting impression because of the obvious joy these guys clearly had making this music.

The album is comprised of 24 tracks, each one more mosh-pit inducing than the last.  “Bastard Complex,” “Flip The Scripture” and “Your Bullshit” remain my favorite tracks on the album, delivering quick hardcore punk ditties in an otherwise growly thrash album, which, I must admit, is a welcome addition if for any other reason than I am a huge hardcore punk fan. That's not to say I don't appreciate the other songs, on the contrary, they're all great, I just have to make my loyalties clear sometimes.

Songs like a “A Man Called Disease” often wake you up to the fact that you are listening to a grindcore album, but the fact that every song is different in a way really makes you love what these guys are doing. One second “Christian Science Fiction” makes you wonder if you're listening to a metal-influenced tough-guy hardcore band then, like clockwork, a song like “Cherrorizer” smacks you in the face waking you back up to the fact that the grindcore roots of the album are back into full swing. Also, putting one of the biggest smiles on my face is the cover of “Religious Vomit,” a Dead Kennedys song. Being a huge Dead Kennedys fan, I find myself embarrassed saying that I kind of prefer P.O.O.R's version more. I think my only problem with the album is that it ends, and I know that might come across as a cliched answer, but I could care less. It's how I feel. I didn't want this album to stop playing when it did.

Overall, P.O.O.R's Extinction Of Trust totally made my day. It's a wake up call, and a welcome one at that, knowing music like this is out there. Too often are we shoveled the same genre-sticking music day in and day out, knowing full well that, somewhere out there, a diamond in the rough awaits our discovery. If you have a soul, you'll love this album. If not, you'll be crying in your bedroom by yourself, slamming your head against the wall wishing you had a soul so you could like this album.”

- Shane Frasier

(Editor’s note: I also wanted to mention that Matt Harvey from Exhumed also appears for guest vocals and solos. I will be reviewing Exhumed’s Necrocracy sometime over the next week.)

Many thanks to Shane for covering this release, and YAY we finally landed a positive review from outside of the metal community. Sure, maybe I cheated a little, knowing he was a Dead Kennedys/Minor Threat fan and hearing a lot of that influence deep in the belly of this grinding punk album, but I digress.

Stream Extinction of Trust over here at Bandcamp and buy it for a totally modest $7 to support these Californians:  http://poorgrind.bandcamp.com/album/extinction-of-trust

And follow them on Facebook for touring news and info on future releases:  https://www.facebook.com/POORGRIND

REVIEW: IRON REAGAN - WORSE THAN DEAD

If the first image in your head after hearing the name Iron Reagan was the Gipper replacing Tony Stark and fighting crime in a mechanical war suit, you may not share the same political platform as this band. Worse Than Dead, the band’s first full-length, paints a portrait of Reagan the villain, sucking the blood from the poor and leaving their emaciated bodies rotting in gutters overflowing with urine and rat carcasses. Like all my favorite political music, the lines between punk, thrash and speed metal vanish in a blur of machine gun riffing and fiery rage burning hotter than a combusted Molotov. If your favorite Slayer album after Reign in Blood is Undisputed Attitude then carve an anarchy symbol on the closest police car and escape to listen to this album now.

With members of Municipal Waste and Suppression/Darkest Hour, this is a group of crossover renegades who know how to rock long hair and sweat bands while inspiring raised fists and violent resistance. From the shouted countdown kicking off “Drop the Gun” to the appropriate warning sirens of “Walking Out,” this is a furious, frenzied assault on the conservative elite. While speed is the name of the game this in no way sacrifices the creativity of the riffs, which branch off from thrash to include moments of hardcore stomp-and-start and ominous melody, as heard in “Pay Check.” There are also the guest vocals from Lock-Up’s Tomas Lindberg on “Snake Chopper” and the show-stealing (and hilariously titled) instrumental track “I Ripped That Testament A New Asshole” as examples of surprises available to listeners who think they’ve heard everything exceptionally fast metal had to offer.

I have heard the same complaint from fans reluctant to embrace a specific sub-genre over and over: All the songs sound the same. This is not specific to thrash, though I have heard increasing scrutiny of crust/d-beat bands that have “nothing new to offer.” One of the things that makes Worse Than Dead such a compelling listen is how contemporary it feels while still displaying inspiration and appreciation for the pioneers of hardcore punk. The old-school mid-gallop solo on “Midlothian Murder Mile” and the gang vocals driving “The Debt Collector” are sure to push original fans of D.R.I. and Gorilla Biscuits fans into the pit to share their veteran moshing experience with the younguns. This music is cross-generational, totally fresh and modern. Still, Iron Reagan would grab the nearest crowbar and smash bank windows side-by-side with the forefathers of thrash.

Regardless of political affiliation, if you like your riffs faster than a stock market crash and fueled by the meanest breeds of punk, Worse Than Dead is a gritty, catchy slice of crossover chaos your ears will gladly bleed for. Arm yourself with this album and prepare for the revolution.

Go check out Iron Reagan’s Facebook page over at:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/IRON-REAGAN

And grab a copy of their album from those lovely, mean bastards over at A389 here: http://www.a389records.com/site/releases/