Bad Time Records – 11 Feb 2022
Phantom of the Opera for Antifascists!
If you like thrashy ska core, but despise Stza’s baneful and abusive behavior, do I have a surprise for you! It gets more difficult to categorize this four piece from Pittsburgh the more you dig but that’s because they extensively cover so much ground. Sociopolitical-hardcore-ska-punk-thrash-metal won’t even begin to scratch the surface and doesn’t address the intricacies and influences splashed across what’s easily Bad Time Records’ most aggressive release.
Come for the Slayer, stay for the ska!
They’re taking aim as soon as they light the fuse and the orange antichrist himself is framed firmly in their sights. If you’re even remotely alive you’ll get the reference to “45” and the opening line kinda sums up the feeling of the record as a whole. “You’re throwing rocks at a hornets nest…” The band clearly has some pretty profound political opinions, they’re not shy about sharing them, and they’re just getting warmed up. If Kill Lincoln and Municipal Waste had a baby, it might resemble something like this with complementary octaves, chest rattling chugs, double time drum beats, screaming strings, growling vocals , and wonderful woahs. They even throw in a little xylophone for good measure because why the fuck not? Track two, “A Nation Of Wolves,” was originally the working title for the album and it’s easy to see why. Wind up your windmills, it’s the welcome wagon to a war zone. The crash cymbal signals you’re about to enter Dante’s Inferno and they’re smoking through scales and burning through breakdowns.
Just when you start wondering where’s the ska? You get your introductory taste with “Colossus,” the first of 3 songs that originally appeared on the 2017 Frontline EP and have been re-recorded with a dose of steroids for the full length. They also include “Black Bloc,” which could serve as an Antifa recruiting class video with lyrics like “kill the congressmen and burn it down and start again.” Thirsty? Here, have a Molotov cocktail. Rounding out the trio of previously released tracks is “Amputee” which seemingly sees them borrowing their backing vocals from the Kill Lincoln (Bad Time boss’ band) and blending them with a non toxic version of Leftover Crack. Is it a call to keep going despite a dump truck full of despair? “Addiction, depression, prescription, correction.”
The trio of singles teased before the official drop date are as varied as the album itself, starting with “Corvid.” What’s a new record these days without a pandemic reference? Rude boys amirite!?!? The vocals, for some reason, sounds to me a little like Debt Neglecter, and the melody itself mimics both guitar and bass lines at times creating a comfortable cohesiveness. There’s so many flaming guitar solos it singed the hair in my ears and this one is no different. “Labor Day,” the second single, is another upstroke laden scorcher and anti-work anthem. Although saying so might come across as picking a bit of low hanging fruit but I hear Anti Flag‘s “Press Corp” in there. Just when you start to think they left something out here come more Woahs!
Adding to the depth of their material, they have some unique transitions. Interludes, postludes, and soliloquies as well as songs like “…” (aka- “Ellipsis”) to keep things extra interesting. Are they conjuring a demon or covering Tool? I have my suspicions but it’s a dark psychedelic descent into psychosis, in the end it may just be the sounds of someone trying to light a cigarette while playing Metroid… either way it’s a chance to catch your breath from the bombing campaign, a little like an intermission. There’s also songs like “Pokelenia” with a piano solo and a soprano choir singing a siren song and “Kui Gelezo,” kicking things off with a cheeky false start and sung in what I can only assume is Russian? (ed.- Google Translate seems to think it is Estonian) I’m not entirely sure but if I had to guess they’re probably reading the ingredients list from a recipe from the Anarchist Cookbook. Continuing to scrounge around in their big bag of tricks, they add mathemetician to their list of accomplishments. To hell with 4/4, they’re trying a different time signature and if they haven’t thrown you enough genre bending curve balls by now, here’s a little funk on the way out and extinguishing the flames at the end with “10.27.18,” a not so satirical speech given in the aftermath of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting with System of a Down as the backing band.
One for the standouts, at least for me, is “Reproductive Reichs.” One of my favorite pastimes is shitting on organized religion and I’m picking up what they’re putting down here for sure. There’s a constant sense of urgency in their scattered screams and for good reason. It’s no surprise that in a country that’s constantly regressing we’d get a song about old and out of touch (insert your own descriptive and/or prejorative) men, who’s power is slowly slipping away, and their continued efforts to control women’s bodies while they pretend it’s not the only way they can feed greedy corporations and their hunger for slave labor. This is the kind of content we need more now than ever. And let’s not leave out “Of Heads Or Houses” and “Steeples”, just a couple more examples of a bass player that never takes a break. They sling in another ska Easter egg in the latter and finish it off with a little jazz. Is there a style they didn’t sneak into some section of this record?
There’s a treasure trove of talking points and axes to grind. You can trace elements of their sound to so many different sources, from Every Time I Die to Morning Glory or The Best Of The Worst to Gogol Bordello, and everything in between. When it comes to guitars, there’s so much gain on tap that the electricity emanates from every crevice. The bass playing is an adventure in and of itself, if you’re a fan of root notes you’ll have to find them elsewhere. The percussion is precise and pronounced and more than adequately destructive. Every player is beyond proficient and seemingly classically trained. Lastly, I applaud them for attacking America’s two party system which is intentionally divisive and used to distract us from the fact that the constant contrasting rhetoric isn’t really about right vs left, it’s just a smokescreen for the rich to exploit the poor. The wealthy have class solidarity and they intend to wield their wealth against us. If you’re looking for a soundtrack to knocking out nazis and fighting fascists, look no further.
Jerred Lazar is a make believe musician and wannabe writer attempting to survive in Washington DC
