Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 17/06/2016
Label: Nuclear Blast
“You
Will Never Be One of Us” is as grim
and dark a record as they come, and whilst they offer only one shade of black, they
happen to do this shade incredibly well. For the brief instances they choose to
experiment, they do so in a very meaningful and effective way; however it seems
they would rather just flat out punish every living thing in existence. This record’s power can physically obliterate
the weak while exhausting all mental reserves of strength. Such exhaustion at
the end of a record is now their certified trademark.
“You Will Never Be One of Us” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. You Will Never Be One Of Us (1:29)
2. Friend To All (0:45)
3. Made To Make You Fail (0:55)
4. Life Is A Death Sentence (1:39)
5. Violence Is Forever (3:26)
6. Savage Intolerance (1:46)
7. In Pain (1:01)
8. Parasite (0:55)
9. Into Quietus (1:33)
10. They Come Crawling Back (8:14)
The Review:
If
Nails
has been anything over their career it is stubborn. The Californian
trio is totally uncompromising in their swirling maelstrom of grindcore
catharsis and the band are faced with expectations at this point in their
career. What the band lack in innovating surprises, they make up for in
unrivaled raw power. Nails want to kick your teeth in, and despite
their records never eclipsing the 22 minute mark, Nails are relatively methodical
when it comes to studio output. This is their first record since 2013’s “Abandon All Life”, a punishing record that was critically well received and garnered
the band a loyal domestic following. Three years later, the band have finally
made their follow up and debut on Nuclear Blast Records with “You Will Never Be One of Us”, a
ferocious addition to the Nails canon that stands out as their best
release to date.
Lead
vocalist and guitarist Todd Jones has crafted some heavy sludge riffs that
pulsate over the noise and double bass that smothers most of this record.
Tracks like “Life is a Death Sentence”
and the epic eight minute closer “They
Come Crawling Back” (a third of the album’s running time and in part a
cover version of the band Dead Black) showcases versatile enjoyable
riffs that have been contorted into vehicles of pure aggression and punishment.
Tracks like these do well to break up the frantic pace of “You Will Never Be One of Us” that often tries to blow the listener
away with speed and precise moments of screeching guitar. Many tracks such as
the eponymous lead single and the spitfire “In Pain” display what Nails feel most comfortable doing. This band
is better than anyone at creating minute and a half songs of pure terror and
anguish due to Jones’ gruff vocals and the band’s disorienting waves of
distortion and unrelenting breakneck pace. Jones’ lyrics which often harbor
ideas of loneliness, inner turmoil, and nihilism give these tracks an extra
punch of bleak unchanneled frustration.
“You Will Never Be One of
Us” is as grim and
dark a record as they come, and whilst they offer only one shade of black, they
happen to do this shade incredibly well.
During the brief excursions Nails choose to experiment, they do so in a very
meaningful and effective way, which is testament to their inclusion of Dead Black
in the outro of album closer. The slower
sludge metal riffs on the record demonstrate that Nails are capable of melody and
enchanting rhythm too, but this record is mostly about one thing, to flat out
punish every living thing in existence.
Suffering
for this trio, appears to be an inevitable part of life that their newest
record embodies in so many different ways. This record’s power can physically
obliterate the weak while exhausting all mental reserves of strength. Such
exhaustion at the end of a record is now the certified trademark of Nails.
