What can be said about the virtual who’s who of Australian metal grindcore group CrisisAct.
Featuring Matt Young (King Parrot) and Joe and David Haley (Psycroptic), you really can’t go wrong, can you? Well, let’s see!
The production is spot on for this sort of no-nonsense grindcore. The marriage between punk and metal cannot be mistaken. The drums are blistering and the guitar tone is something different to what I would have expected (my ears being used to the lack of saturation featured in Psycroptic). The deeps vocals are not unlike Nathan explosion from Dethklok (which is a damn good thing in my opinion) and Youngy’s unmistakable screech cannot is especially welcomed.
The tracks are short, jarring, involve complex structures and unforgivingly unrelenting. If you can imagine a giant cruise chip, covered in spikes, entering Port Phillip Bay, crushing everything in sight with complete disregard for life lost of damage incurred, then you might get a sense of what this recording, Turn It Off, is actually like. If I may offer one criticism, be it maybe unwelcomed? Given the all-star line-up of this beast, I would really hope that future releases push the envelope a little bit further.
While their respective bands do well to create landmarks in their respective genres, (and trying to ignore the possibility that this recording is simply a passion project and not intended to conquer the world) I feel that there is room to push the boundaries of grindcore towards a new wave of Aussie grind. I will wait with bated breath for the next release.
Suitable for those who wear rusted metal on their foreheads al la Vivian from The Young Ones.
CrisisAct: Facebook
Release Year: 2020
Label: self-released
Category: EP
Country: International
Reviewed by Liam Frost-Camilleri
