Abandon All Life

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16/20
Band Name Nails
Album Name Abandon All Life
Type Album
Released date 19 March 2013
Music StyleHardcore
Members owning this album26

Tracklist

1. In Exodus 01:19
2. Tyrant 00:44
3. Absolute Control 00:44
4. God's Cold Hands 02:00
5. Wide Open Wound 03:38
6. Abandon All Life 01:22
7. No Surrender 00:56
8. Pariah 01:03
9. Cry Wolf 00:25
10. Suum Cuique 05:21
Total playing time 17:32

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Nails


Review @ VesselsOfBlood

19 March 2013

Crushing Crust Metal

When it comes to creating a phenomenally destructive metal or hardcore record, this process, believe it or not, requires some caution. If overdone, the end product becomes incredibly tedious and boringly noisy. Thankfully, plenty of bands such as Trap Them and Gaza have managed to curtail this potential flaw by inserting dynamicity into their raw hardcore onslaughts. Oxnard, California group Nails is no exception from this realm of musical strength. Since forming in 2007, the band has been storming the metal scene with some of the punchiest hardcore soundtracks listeners will ever have the pleasure of being pummeled into the ground by. 2009 saw the release of “Obscene Humanity,” which unveiled much potential for the band and had them signed to Southern Lord Records, which also houses acts such as Sunn O))) and Wolves In The Throne Room. Afterwards, when Nails released their second full-length “Unsilent Death” in 2010, they have proven to have evolved and became a threatening force to be reckoned with. The same can also be said for the band’s third record entitled “Abandon All Life,” released in 2013, which truly unleashes the feral noise that Nails has been aiming for years.

In regards to the musicianship, the instrumentation is rather simple. However, the manner in which it is showcased in “Abandon All Life” is just spectacularly done. The vocals demonstrate pure aggression, rage, and raw energy with the violent bellows, roars, and screams. They also sound somewhat half faded compared to the rest of the music, which emphasizes the album’s haunting tone and thus makes them very enjoyable to have tearing your ears to shreds. The guitars are also excellently done, boasting crude, buzzsaw riffs that roam across differing tones of genres, such as sludge metal, crust, grindcore, and even hints of doom metal. Although the riffs themselves are a tad simple, this type of versatility creates a nice, large canvas of musical diversity, which helps in making this record appeal to everyone, rendering the guitar work as another great highlight. The percussion is another large standout, because they are so well-produced and sound incredibly potent. They are not that complex, but this makes only makes way for a very bold and pummeling sound. When it comes down to both the musicianship, the simplicities work great because of the sound from the production and the unwavering energy put into the instrumentation. In “Abandon All Life,” the musicianship is just powerful.

Like in the band’s previous efforts, the majority of “Abandon All Life” is composed of the catastrophic and brutal fusion between hardcore, crust, and hints of sludge. However, this time around, the music is even more abrasive than before, and it is truly some of the most destructive hardcore anyone will ever have the pleasure of shattering their skulls to. The great musicianship and production collaborate to create a great, apocalyptic soundtrack that could get a mosh pit boiling within mere seconds. One aspect of this album that truly helps in Nails stomping on skyscrapers is what has always helped the band achieve this goal: The track lengths. Each song lasts no more than two minutes, except for the last track “Suum Cuique,” which carries out its audio assault in about five minutes. This allows each song to leave a great mark, because the destruction that “Abandon All Life” hands out to its audience is therefore concentrated through briefer-lasting tracks. Another very essential point that ups the album’s enjoyment is how well the musicianship is showcased. They all play their part in an incredibly brutal manner, and the end result is an unrelenting and unkind specimen of crust-hardcore. In what Nails had always done best in their preceding releases, this album sees a great step forward in captivating its audience in a skull-crushing manner.

However, that is not to say that “Abandon All Life” is just raw, rapid-blast hardcore throughout. When the album isn’t breathing fire with this side of the coin, it also bears slower yet still very tumultuous passages. In a way, they associate with the sluggishly devastating tracks that the sludge-doom metal genre often displays, with a somewhat mournful tone to them. The fact that they lurk around the territory of the passages found in the amalgamations of sludge and doom metal works to the album’s advantage, because this gives it a sense of genre diversity. It results in “Abandon All Life” becoming a great piece to the collections of not just hardcore and crust fans, but also for the followers of the said genre. The album is as versatile as it is violent and unforgiving, making it all the more memorable and compelling of a listen. Another boost that these passages give the record is that it underlines the more destructive and feral side of the band’s hardcore onslaught, also granting it dynamicity as well as diversity. Nails made the right choice in including these segments in this ravaging masterpiece, working to the advantage of the album’s sound.

After releasing a duo of great records, “Abandon All Life” has proven to be the group’s truly crowning achievement. The elements of this record are played upon incredibly well, with excellent musicianship, great dynamicity, and most importantly, rapturous hardcore. Nails is clearly growing into one of the great masters of the crust-hardcore genre, with dark and harsh tones that violently invigorate its audience, as well as hold some technical value, such as the album’s sense of diversity. Sludge metal, crust, doom metal, hardcore, and grindcore seamlessly blend together to generate one of the sickest and cruelest records ever to set fire to the metal scene. Even with “Unsilent Death” setting the bar very high for a sequel, this album surpasses the latter release with the possession of even more raw energy and rage than ever before. Metal and hardcore fans in search of some of the most twisted and vehement records to ever see the light of day are highly recommended to give this album a spin. With “Abandon All Life” being such a versatile, dark, and explosively strong effort, it’s safe to say that Nails has truly progressed in their dark craft.


Originally posted on: http://metaljerky.blogspot.com/

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VesselsOfBlood - 21 March 2013: Thank you! Yup, so far, this is the best record of 2013... Let's see how this goes later on. ;)
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