UNDERXTED – Carnage EP
UNDERXTED – Carnage EP
Sliptrick Records
Release Date: 25/04/23
Running Time: 17:21
Review by Dark Juan
5/10
I am still seated upon my throne, hunched double over my computer, typing as if my life depended upon it. Having seen the size of my review queue (which is the silent letter in that word?) it looks like my life does depend on it, otherwise the Ever-Metal.com overseer, Simon “I’ve Got One Fist Of Iron, And One Fist Of Steel. If The Left One Don’t Get You, The Right One Will” Black will break out the cat o’ nine tails and flay my back, laying it open to the elements all over again… I don’t know why I even bother putting a shirt on anymore. He’s utterly ruined my Reptile House Sisters of Mercy one.
Whilst I lament and be woeful about the state of my wardrobe after Simon has finished lashing me to productivity, the Platter of Splatter™ is spinning vigorously and playing the latest offering from US-based Industrial/Alternative Metallers UNDERXTED. I have no idea how to pronounce it. Maybe you, the faceless hordes out in the real world will help me out here. This American two-piece are, for want of a better word, fucking confusing your good correspondent. Mainly by playing music that doesn’t really bear any resemblance to what they describe themselves as, apart from maybe the tiniest tinge of Ministry in their guitar sound. The Alternative bit I get, the Industrial not so much. They sound like a more heavily produced Pissing Razors who have been given a sequencer and sampler and been told to not leave the studio until they have recorded a mini-LP at least. I suppose the Industrial edge could come from the drum machine they have used. There is a slight whiff of Spineshank about them as well.
Opening track ‘STENCH!’ appears to be a bit confused about what it wants to be, although J. STEEL’s vocals are satisfyingly Carcass-like and would not be out of place on any of the output of that august bunch of vegan Scousers’ albums, his high pitched snarl and bark ably assisted with the more sepulchral tones of Thomas Cloud (or AJ – I know not what he prefers to be called) on a song that bites and tears in a pretty menacing fashion but has a weird sense of being unfocused. The band then totally changes tone and pace on ‘Saviors’ for a strange kind of quasi-ballad that owes as much to Pantera as it does to anything else – the bluesy solo in the middle eight is also somewhat jarring with the kind of Alt-Metal feel of the song. It feels a bit like something Billy Corgan would have written for a solo record, and it once more leaves Dark Juan confused about where this pair of madcap Yanks are going. ‘DECONSTRUCTION’ is a different affair again, where finally the Industrial Metal comes through strongly enough to be recognisable, but even then there is a small break where there is a bit of the kind of Tech Death that Carcass pioneered in the guitar work and then it gets properly into its stride but then just unaccountably… stops dead in favour of the out and out Thrash Metal of ‘Multi Kill’ – speedy and dangerous, this song is the absolute highlight of the record and then the mood is changed once more with the Heavy Blues of ‘Old NO.7’. Dark Juan originally thought was going to be a hilarious cover of Alannah Myles’ ‘Black Velvet’ yet instead is an enjoyable but ultimately forgettable romp through the Blues with Metal guitar, until the last thirty odd seconds of the song where we somehow end up with echo-dripping Psychedelia. I do not understand and I am supposed to be good at quantifying this sort of shit, dammit! The record closes with ‘DESCRETION (sic) OF HATE’ which again combines Thrash with a bizarrely Trad Metal guitar sound and soloing with the vocals of a much heavier band.
So, all in all, it is a competently performed record, but it is far too disjointed a listen for this Hellpriest. The production is very lightweight and the guitar sound so over-produced it sounds synthesised. I don’t know whether this is the Line 6 effect (as in not being able to afford absolute top quality equipment) or a choice. The bass (which also sounds sequenced) is too light and robs the music of a chunky bottom end and the whole thing reminds Dark Juan of an X-plane – The USAF’s experimental aircraft, all shiny and streamlined and polished and cutting edge, but only works around 30% of the time. One wonders whether this is because of the light-alloy production, the programmed drums (which sounds terribly artificial) or just the spasmodic nature of the music of the band.
Obviously the guys and gals at Sliptrick Records are hearing something I am missing, as I find UNDERXTED too fragmented and inchoate to fully enjoy them, but there is promise beneath the disjointedness. The vocals are superb, for example, and the songwriting good (apart from that horrible clattering stop on ‘DECONSTRUCTION’) and the ideas behind the songs are interesting, but I just can’t help but feel that more quality control and more… more… discipline is in order. I never thought I would hear myself say that, seeing as I rail against discipline on a daily basis unless I’m the one dishing it out liberally.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System awards UNDERXTED 5/10 for a record that is too flawed and too jumpy.
Good day.
TRACKLISTING:
01. STENCH!
02. Saviors
03. DECONSTRUCTION
04. Multi-Kill
05. Old N0.7
06. DESCRETION OF HATE
LINE-UP:
J.STEEL – Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar
Thomas Cloud (AJ) – Backup Vocalist/Rhythm Guitar
LINKS:
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I really like the range between tracks. Some might say it’s a bit “unfocused” but I find it as a gateway into the variety of sound this young band can give us.