In 2016 I reviewed the sophomore album by California’s Hemotoxin, entitled Organic Enslavement. It was a not-unwelcome slice of demise-thrash with a watch for the outdated-faculty and a proclivity for the technical, although it suffered from vague track-writing. Nearly four years later in 2020, its successor referred to as Restructure the Molded Mind is ready for launch. 2020 has to date confirmed to be a reasonably shitty time to be alive however maybe some raucous demise-thrash was precisely what I wanted to reinvigorate myself. How do I really feel following a dozen listens?
As beforehand, Molded Mind evokes that period when thrash metallic was turning into demise metallic, exhibiting a sound which doesn’t completely sit in both camp however which nonetheless strongly prioritizes The Riff. This music has a primal power however is executed with a aptitude for the technical which elevates it from the most neanderthalic thrash or demise. Hemotoxin cites Demise and Atheist as explicit influences which make sense as though the sounds aren’t fairly the identical, each of those bands had a watch for greater than mere violence. The truth is, I’d additionally counsel Artillery as a comparator, although Molded Mind is rather more chaotic. In all, this method forges a sound seemingly objective-constructed for an superior dwell present: groovy, buzz sawing guitars1, chaotic percussion and uncooked depth. It’s actually consideration-demanding stuff.
I very a lot admire the document’s brevity and directness. It has a zero bullshit method: zero overlong introductions, zero atmospheric interludes, zero passages by which you don’t really feel like the band goes 100%. There are eight tracks, only one of which exceeds four minutes, and Molded Mind solely runs for 29 minutes. Extra bands ought to undertake this method and remind themselves that Reign in Blood solely ran for the same period. I’ve little interest in your 75-minute progressive demise-thrash masterwork. There’s a refreshing lack of pretension and I felt extra compelled to hear carefully to the fewer minutes that have been truly right here. Specifically, “Legions of Alienation,” “Execution” and the title monitor are the greatest three songs on supply. Every feels barely extra structured than the the rest of the album as all of them characteristic climactic finales which have grown throughout their respective tracks. Furthermore, “Legions of Alienation” has some nice guitar moments equivalent to the badass transition after the introduction, the groovy riff at 0:50 and the brief breakdown in its second half.
However the different facet of the depth and kinetic method is the lack of dynamism. Despite the fact that the guitar leads and tempo change very ceaselessly, there’s a shocking lack of it; the truth is, it’s precisely this overwhelming frequency of shifts that results in the lack of dynamism. It feels as if all components are at all times there and there’s an excessive amount of happening at anybody time. Molded Mind options busy guitars, busy drumming, busy bass and busy vocals. Songs bleed collectively in consequence, and it’s tough to determine particular person melodies, and even particular person songs, in the melee. The riffs are fairly robust, however not robust sufficient to tell apart tracks. Hemotoxin have written a formulaic album with comparable sorts of songs, which is ok if the execution is ideal, however right here it’s solely respectable. Even at solely 29 minutes, the bleeding between tracks encourages the view that not each second absolutely justifies itself. For instance, there was some extent in my notice-taking the place I briefly learn a textual content and fully missed that “Corrupted Flesh” had ended and “Automation” had begun.
General, my view of Molded Mind is just not so totally different from my view of Organic Enslavement. The person qualities are good, exemplified by the riffs, musicianship and pretentiousnessless2. I additionally admire the manufacturing which is grindy and old-fashioned, however clear sufficient to select aside all of the instrumentation. However I’m not finally compelled to take heed to the album all the approach by provided that the 29 minutes blur and particular person tracks don’t (usually) stand out. Hemotoxin have all the instruments however haven’t but constructed one thing I can simply advocate to the common metallic listener; maybe simply these explicit followers of late 80s demise-thrash.
Ranking: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Unspeakable Axe Data
Web sites: fb.com/hemotoxin | hemotoxin.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: March 16th, 2020