Show No MercyNot totally sure where these guys are exactly from but I do know they're from Maryland, Baltimore would probably be my guess. This is their first release aside from a demo and to get it out there, the singer started his own label, Hand of Death. Actually, the name is taken from off the Hand of Death murder cult. I'd suggest to do some reading on that if you can, pretty interesting stuff to say the least.
This EP consists of seven songs of quality crossover hardcore/thrash that draws influence from all the right places: Blood for Blood, Sheer Terror, Ringworm, Slayer, Integrity, Carnivore and all kinds of other good shit.
Opening up the album is the track, "Apocalypse Culture", which starts with a speedy drum roll as the singer screams in unison until a brief explosion of speed, soon they hit a mid paced groove with the singer chanting "This is, This is, This is Apocalypse Culture" until they briefly slow it down with a sweet little bass line as the singer talks over the music. The second track, "Corinthian" opens with a thrash driven verse that gives the vocalist the opportunity to go apeshit, then they enter a mid paced chug part which is highlighted by good drum work. Next on the list, "Cities of The Red Night" starts off with some pummeling bass alongside some fast tempo drumming, from there on they go between the fast paced verse and a churning mid paced chorus. The song ends with a burst of leads that add some flavor to the song. Continuing on down the list, the song "So I Burn" opens with one of my favorite riffs of the album and veers into a similar but slightly more stomped out version of the opening riff. The little hammer on run at the end of the galloping chug is just bliss to my ears. The title track, "Death Is My Religion" opens with a sweet power chord progression with pounding drums, the same riff is slightly altered in the following verse. Next up, "No Life Like Low Life" starts off with fast pace riffing that turns into a stomp-a-thon until it enters back into the original riff as the singer delivers line after line of gruff, shouted vocals. The ending of the song sees the guitarist using some more well done leads, this one being much better and intricate than the first. Definitely want to hear more of that. The last song of the album "In The Valley" starts off with a sweet thrash riff with some nice bass playing until the vocalist jumps in with the rest of the band. When weighed up against the rest of the songs, this song keeps it fast paced a little more than the rest but there is a nice little break if you will around the 1:50 area. During the final riff there is another example of some well done lead work.
What I like so much about these guys musically is that they are able to balance the mix of thrash and hardcore so well, which is easier said then done in the crossover game. Time and time again these guys are able to mix and match the slower and faster parts effortlessly.
Most of the lyrics tend to deal with anti-religion and Satanism. There are songs/lines about various murderers in abstract fashion, some of those being the Son of Sam, Zodiac, Jim Jones and the notorious Charles Manson (even though he never killed anyone per se), conspiracies, and just overall hatred for the human population, which I can get behind. Hardcore needs more negativity and disdain for the human race, and these guys have that and tenfold. I mean take the opening track "Apocalypse Culture" which casts the human race as a disease and we will be the demise of the Earth. I love it, bringing back the negacore baby!
For the most part I like the recording, but there are a few things that could be hammered out to make these guys sound absolutely crushing. First, I wasn't really too impressed with the tone of the drums, it wasn't one thing in particular just the overall tone seemed a bit flat if you will. Another thing was the bass tone could've used a bit more tone to it and a little more presence. The one thing I do like however, is the guitar tone. It's got a hard hitting tone that is perfect for the crossover hardcore sound. For the most part I liked the vocals but they seemed to be a little too far away from the rest of the mix, it's not horrible but it could sound better. All in all, not too bad just some minor tweaking is needed in spots.
The CD comes in a nice, glossy digipack. The front cover has some sweet ass hand drawn artwork of a giant, gun toting Baphomet tearing through the downtown skyline, which I'm guessing is Baltimore. The artwork is slightly pixilated but it's not so bad that it detracts from the artwork itself. My biggest quarrel about the layout is the lack of a booklet and lyrics. Considering a lot of what makes the band what it is, is the lyrical content, and though it isn't terribly hard to decipher the lyrics, it would've been nice to have. Like the recording, there are some minor things that could be polished up but I'm sure they are already way head of me.
Rating: 3.8/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Corinthian and So I Burn
Synopsis: I'm loving these guys musically, I really dig what they have to offer in the lyrical department as well. The artwork and imagery is awesome, and I'm sure next time around they will have all the artwork 100% perfect when they send it off to get printed. Can't wait to see what these guys will be doing in the future. Good job.
See for yourself what these guys have to offer by heading over to their Myspace page to listen to some of their tunes. If you indeed like what you hear then head over to the label's page to learn how to get your grubby little hands on a copy!