YELLOWCAKE - Apparitions of War CS
If it seems like I disproportionately dunk on d-beat, consider for a sec that so much of it is inspired, unlistenable dogshit. Backwards looking, self-indulgent pastiche overly indebted to this or that country's scene from 20 or 30 years before any member was even born, lamenting the wars that filled their parents' bank accounts and paid for all the cider, studs, and hairspray they could ever ask for. Maybe maybe maybe... maybe I DO believe the many offenders should be locked in a gulag and forced to listen to Peter, Paul, and/or Mary 22hrs a day (I'm no monster), 7 days a week for their crimes against music and, once freed, a crossed out 8th note branded on their pointy little heads.
I say these things, and then I hear BLACK DOG or NO KNOCK or, of course, Arizona's YELLOWCAKE and consider the possibility that I've judged too harshly. Perhaps even I may be wrong from time to time (though, as Nevada may attest after the unrelenting punishment they received by yours truly this past weekend, if once informed, you find your way back to rightness, were you ever truly wrong? A Thought for another time, perhaps).
Just as evil as BLACK DOG, though a little more chaotic. The riffs rip through the speakers with 1,000,000mph (1,609,344km/h for most of yuz) rapid-fire downstroke madness, only diverting now and again to indulge in some lead-guitar wankery. The tom-heavy caveman drums punctuated by big fucking fills at the end of nearly measure evoke an infinity of fists punching unlimited low-clearance basements. And goddammn, Genesis' vocals are perfect, calling to mind the best moments of QUESTION/DETESTATION's Saira. Primal grunts and screams and shouts. Nothing breaks the 2min mark, as almost nothing should.
An almost perfect release from the CAKEsters and their label Total Peace, willfully marred by the exclusion of a fucking lyrics sheet.
Listen here: https://totalpeace.bandcamp.com/album/apparitions-of-war
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