By:
Ernesto Aguilar
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 23/08/2017
Label: Independent
Right
off the bat, with opener "Human Cry," Corrupt Moral Altar demonstrate
they have not lost an ounce of bombast or power. Their skill at overlaying
guitars on guitars, and simply sandblasting your head with the kind of fire it
specializes in is what has made the group renowned as one of the generation's
most exciting performers
"Eunoia" DD track listing
1.
Human Cry
2.
Engineering Consent
3.
Crime And Disease
4.
Night Chant
5.
Survivor's Guilt
6.
Born In The Caul
7.
Burning Bridges And Burning Homes
8.
The All Consuming Self
9.
Rat King
10.
Destroying Everything You Believe In
11.
Body Horror
12.
On Judith's Birthday
13.
Five Years
The Review:
The
United Kingdom's Corrupt Moral Altar is a band you
may know and love for its astoundingly fast and raw take on hardcore, thrash
and grind. A demo and pair of EPs set the stage for its 2014 full length, “Mechanical Tides”. That release was
popular at the moment because of its brawny sound and lyricism. Now, Corrupt Moral Altar returns with the hopes of plenty of
hardcore fans on its back.
Vocalist
Chris Reese has deft support in multi-instrumentalists John Cooke, Adam
Clarkson and Tom Dring as Corrupt Moral Altar is
back for 2017. Today, the group's return is "Eunoia." You have to appreciate dedication like this: 13
songs, and none of the one-minute-or-less variety that passes for extreme metal
and can sometimes betray your eyes on first glance. Instead, you have fully
formed cuts every one. By the way, the title is derived from a Greek word, but
refers to the goodwill a speaker has with an audience. In this case, Corrupt Moral Altar's connection with fans is quite sturdy,
for good reason.
Right
off the bat, with opener "Human
Cry," Corrupt Moral Altar demonstrates it has not
lost an ounce of bombast or power. Its skill at overlaying guitars on guitars,
and simply sandblasting your head with the kind of fire it specializes in is
what has made the group renowned as one of the generation's most exciting
performers. Reese keeps up the pace in spite of the ambitious package the band
has offered. By the album's closer, "Five
Years," which has a touch of sludge to the arrangement, one has to
half-expect Reese has nearly howled himself to death. Not a chance. He goes
hard until the final note.
Similarly,
the rest of the group makes "Euonia"
a real feast for metal devotees. The drumming on "The All Consuming Self" is savage, fast and unrelenting.
The guitars in "Survivors Guilt"
romp along with the vocals in a manner that feels just right. And you will come
to appreciate how sharp the bass sounds on "Body
Horror," complimenting the whole track and giving weight to the
festivities. Beyond the individual performances, the quartet's talent at making
what sounds like a flurry of sound so compelling is where you learn to
appreciate "Eunoia" all the
more. To the untrained ear, Corrupt Moral Altar may
sound harsh as lye, but theirs is a scrumptious poison.
Finally,
there are a variety of lyrical themes touched upon in "Euonia," from class divisions to
religion and many other topics hardcore listeners have come to enjoy. In "Destroying Everything You Believe
In," a consistent idea of pragmatism in a difficult world comes up
again and again. Corrupt Moral Altar deserves credit
for taking the songwriting several notches above 'religion bad, people good'
that lazier acts have resorted to. "Atoms, time and
mathematics/Civilization is not a sign of human progress, Reese howls. "We
need to nail their tongues to the temple doors/It just feels like we are
casting pearls at swine."
"Eunoia" manages to sound both
aggressive and reasoned, and Corrupt Moral Altar
makes it back to remind you how much they were missed.
"Eunoia" is
available here
