Album
Type : Full Length
Date
Released : 23/5/2014
Label
: Season of Mist
Misery
Index “The Killing Gods” (CD/DD/LP) track listing :
1.
Urfaust
2. The Calling
3. The Oath
4. Conjuring the Cull
5.
The Harrowing
6. The Killing Gods
7. Cross to Bear
8.
Gallows Humor
9. The Weakener
10. Sentinels
11. Colony
Collapse (feat. John Gallagher, DYING FETUS)
12. Heretics
13.
Thieves of the New World Order [MINISTRY cover bonus track]
Bio
:
MISERY
INDEX return with a fury worthy of the
title of their new album, "The Killing Gods". With their
fifth full-length, the American icons of hard hitting brutality
display the strength of maturity grown out of the experience gained
as a relentless touring machine. The general trend of their
continuous evolution to incorporate less core elements and move
towards classic death metal finds a new high water mark. When their
debut EP “Overthrow” was recorded in 2001 by vocalist and bassist
Jason Netherton (ex-DYING FETUS) together with (then) guitarist and
vocalist Mike Harrison and drummer Kevin Talley (ex-DYING FETUS),
MISERY INDEX
immediately charted a course to explore and push the limits of Death
Metal and Grindcore, drawing influence from bands like MORBID ANGEL,
NAPALM DEATH, TERRORIZER, BOLT THROWER and ENTOMBED. The erstwhile
project shifted to a full time band when guitarist Sparky Voyles
(ex-DYING FETUS) joined.
In
2003, MISERY INDEX
unleashed their first full-length “Retaliate”, to exceptional
reviews and followed by numerous support tours and festivals in
Europe and North America. After several line-up changes, second album
“Discordia” was released in 2006 with even more touring in its
wake. Their third full-length, “Traitors” (2008) reaped raving
reactions from both critics and fans and saw the band on the road
again until 2009.
Then
MISERY INDEX
dropped “Heirs to Thievery” (2010) like a bomb on the Death Metal
masses, shattering all expectations. The album was both a commercial
and critical success, elevating the band to headlining slots. During
that year, long time guitarist Sparky Voyles was replaced by Darin
Morris. A string of shows and festivals around the globe followed and
on the Munich date of “Full of Hate Tour” alongside CANNIBAL
CORPSE, BEHEMOTH and LEGION OF THE DAMNED, the band recorded their
first live album. Released early 2013, "Live in Munich"
perfectly epitomized the rawness and ferocity that MISERY
INDEX now elevate onto a new level with
"The Killing Gods". Brace, hold tight and duck for cover,
the wrath of the gods is upon us!
The
Band
Jason
Netherton | bass, vocals
Adam Jarvis | drums
Mark Kloeppel
|guitar, vocals
Darin Morris | lead guitar
Review
:
I’d
like to start by acknowledging upfront that I’ve never been a huge
Misery Index fan. I liked “Retaliate” well enough, but it isn't
an album I revisit very often, and everything I've heard from Misery
Index since then has been met with a pretty similar reaction from me.
Some
albums are worse, some are better, but I wasn't really moved in
either direction by any of their albums. 'The Killing Gods', the
band’s fifth full-length album changes that. This is an album where
I can truly say I’m a fan of Misery Index. They've kept their
trademark ferocity and hardcore-informed rhythmic catchiness and
added a melodic sensibility that enhances their sound wonderfully.
“The
Calling”, the first song on the album makes all of this clear,
starting with a riff that would be right at home with/on Defleshed’s
over-looked classic “Under the Blade”. Meanwhile, Adam Jarvis
lays waste to his drum kit with ever-changing beats and constant
snare abuse, reminding one of some of Janne Saarenpää’s best work
in The Crown. There’s plenty of melody and harmony, but what makes
it great is that they've sacrificed none of their vitriol in the
process. The new attention they're paying to melody also shows up in
the form of an octave lead at the opening of “Conjuring the Cull”,
along with a revisiting of the intro's theme towards the end with
plenty of harmonized lead work over the central riff. It's obvious
that Misery Index is committed to fully realizing the songs on 'The
Killing Gods', and they're built to keep you coming back for more.
The
title track lets some of the notes ring longer, and allows for a bit
of a breather tempo-wise, if only for a fleeting moment. Jarvis
continues his torrential drum onslaught in the form of virtually
relentless drum fills through much of it; this keeps the energy level
up despite the more reserved riffing going on. It should be said that
in many ways, even with all of the quality guitar work going on, the
whole of the album seems to revolve around the drums in a way that
their previous work did not. They’re very loud in the mix, and
while that might be a detriment to some albums and bands, it’s
actually a huge benefit to the overall experience of 'The Killing
Gods'. As a result, the moments with the desired heaviest impact are
felt all the more deeply.
Not
everything is completely praise-worthy as the second half of the
album is a little too locked into a routine of hardcore-ish riffs
while abandoning some of the elements that made the first half of the
album so successful. Things are so tightly played and on-point
rhythmically that it doesn't hurt the flow of things too much, but it
feels like they might have benefited from spreading the first six
songs out more evenly over the course of the twelve songs on the
album. This would have kept the second half of ‘The Killing Gods’
from exploring too much of the same terrain. Even with that
minor gripe aside, I have no problem stating that this is Misery
Index’s finest hour. ‘The Killing Gods’ towers over their
previous albums and it’s really not even close.
Words
by : Daniel Jackson
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