CD Review: Spineshank - Anger Denial Acceptance

Written by Christopher Nosnibor Tuesday, 26 June 2012 13:33

Artist: Spineshank
Title: Anger Denial Acceptance
Genre: Metal
Release Date: 18th June 2012
Label: Century Media Records

Album Review

So, Grammy-nominated metallers SPINESHANK are back. Nine years on from their last album, and eight years since singer Johnny Santos quit, they’re reunited with the original line-up and promising an album with “plenty of electronics / loops / synths”, “a ton of singing and melody” and a sound that will stand as being substantially be heavier than their previous output. So, what does this actually mean? For the most part, it means an album of rather standard contemporary metal. By which I mean clean vocals lead, with shouted / screamed backing vocals providing contrast and bile. The guitars chug, the drums thump and it’s all rather formulaic, and, dare I say it, a bit LINKIN PARK.

Despite sticking very much to the template, ‘Murder Suicide’ packs more punch and is one of the picks of the crop, with tense blasts of treble cutting through a dense wall of guitars and rapid-fire drumming, and shortly after the album’s mid-point, ‘I Am Damage’ takes things up several gears. A frenetic thrash that burns with energy, it’s pacier and punkier, in the US hardcore sense and marks the beginning of a run of stronger, more punk-orientated songs that carry more force and a greater sense of conviction.

These positives are countered by some pretty nasty negatives, however. The title track, which is very middling metal and sizzles with ersatz angst tapers down to an acoustic guitar, over which Johnny Santos croons, “she fucks him violently / it all comes to an end / for me, it’s just for me”. It’s shamefully self-centred and lacks real emotional depth beyond posture-driven moping. The closing trilogy, consisting of ‘God Complex (Anger)’, ‘Motive Method Opportunity (Denial)’ and ‘Exit Wounds (Acceptance)’ revisits the title track and may be conceptually grand in intent, but the result seems largely pretentious and overblown.

Overall, while not without its good bits, it’s by no means a consistent work, and in the main, depressingly average.


Tracklist

01. After the End
02. Nothing Left for Me
03. Anger Denial Acceptance
04. I Want You to Know
05. Murder Suicide
06. The Endless Disconnect
07. I Am Damage
08. Ploratio Morbus
09. Everything Everyone Everywhere Ends
10. The Reckoning
11. God Complex (Anger)
12. Motive Method Opportunity (Denial)
13. Exit Wound (Acceptance)


Line-up

Johnny Santos – Vocals
Mike Sarkisyan – Guitar
Tommy Decker – Drums
Rob Garcia – Bass


Website

https://www.facebook.com/spineshank


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 5
Sound: 7
Total: 6 / 10