Album Review: Arson Anthem - 'Arson Anthem'
Abrasive debut EP from punk super group featuring members of Pantera, Supejoint Ritual & Eyehategod.
always been sceptical of Phil Anselmo's claims that his newest project(of
which there are many) is going to take essence of punk, metal, groove,
sludge, stoner and anything else the dude claims to have invented and
roll them into the ultimate kick in the face. Where Superjoint Ritual
came off as a pale derivative of Pantera inspired southern sludge-metal,
Arson Anthem completely pulverizes. This is mostly due to the fact that
Arson Anthem is, without a doubt, the ultimate kick in the face, in
an audible form at least.
Looking at the personnel for
this project, it’s not hard to understand the above statement. Anyone
with the slightest interest in the Nola scene will know that vocalist
Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter
Mike Williams (Eyehategod) has quite a bit to be pissed about. After
being arrested on drugs charges after fleeing Hurricane Katrina, having
his apartment burned down and having to kick his legendary heroin habit
cold turkey behind bars, Mike has totally unleashed on this record with
the most raucous and confrontation vocal performance I've heard in recent
years, making Eyehategod sound like a lullaby. With Hank Williams III(Superjoint
Ritual) on drums and Phil shredding away with "riffs" that
sound like a 14 year old beginner would churn out in their garage, Arson
Anthem lifts its leg on musicianship and pisses on the popular standard
that has been set for the dead scene that is hardcore punk. Oh and they
have a bass player too, Colin Yeo, who I can’t seem to find any information
on.
Moving on, Arson Anthem calls
on the prototypical hardcore punk of early 80's for influence, paying
homage to bands such as Hellhammer, Discharge, Heresy and the like to
completely pummel the senses. Dropping 8 tracks in 11 minutes flat,
this disc is over before you know it and fans of the genre or previous
effort by the individuals involved are sure to eat up this collection
of grimy, filth encrusted aggro-punk tunes. There even a funky southern
boogie towards the end of "The Avoider" which is stark in
its contrast to the D-beat fury of "Doomed Morale" and "Bunker
Life".
however, as fans of the polished approach taken by 90's metal giants
Pantera or even Superjoint Ritual may totally misunderstand the raw
and downright crappy production of this EP. Being a fan of old school
black metal, the below demo quality doesn’t bother me but I can see
how this would detract fans of more conventional, modern hardcore punk
and metal.
Fans of Pantera or even Down need not
apply here as this record represents the side of Phil and his Nola pals
that reflects the harshness of their surroundings and turbulence of
their lives in and around New Orleans both post and pre the Katrina
disaster. Oh yeah, it’s a corking punk record too albeit a short one.
- “Year of the fork”
– 1:41
- “Bunker life” –
1:15
- “Doomed Morale”
1:13
- “Hammer Them Out”
– 1:11
- “Wrecked Like Clockwork”
– 1:51
More From Our Network
