Misguided Aggression
Another band sent through from Eric at Ricburn Media is Misguided Aggression, a band who have been described as combining the power of Pantera (good), the aggression of Lamb of God (goooood), and the precision of Meshuggah (goooooooood), which sounds pretty awesome to me! Coming straight out of Woodstock, Ontario, this 5 piece groove metal band are well on track to becoming what is commonly known as ‘well known’. Having released their album ‘Flood The Common Ground’, the band embarked on a summer tour over 2011, performing with the likes of Behemoth, God Forbid, Protest The Hero and Cancer Bats – so I figured it was only right I get on and check these guys out!
As the Intro builds into the album, there’s a real sense that what is about to happen is going to be one of two things – 1). Heavy, 2). Insane – and I know which I’m hoping for! The spoken word which leads into the tracks is quite moving as well as you listen to it, discussing how the media can lead to personal feelings which aren’t well founded, but onto the album. Winter Soldier holds the answer about what to expect, and you’ll be happy to know that it is indeed, heavy! Powerful, raw, distorted and downright mental from the word go, this is a track which isn’t for you fans of Mr Beiber out there (yeah right….as if he’s got any fans who listen to real music!), this is for those of you who want to hear music which is going to make your blood run faster, get you out of your seat and get you to destroy everything around you. As if to show they’ve still got more up their sleeve, Chasing Sanity follows on and once again pummels you to the floor with their hammering riffs, roaring vocals and insane drumming. Akin to Fear Factory at times musically but matching all of the comparisons drawn on their one sheet, this is a hell of a way to be introduced to a band – it’s like being introduced to the front end of a bus whilst you’re crossing the street.
The Visionary seems to follow on perfectly, once again opening at a hammering pace and grabbing you by your face to come along for the ride. Rolling double bass pedals assault you from every direction, hammering guitars rove around whilst some of the most insane vocals you’ll ever hear pound around in your ear drums, if these guys can pull this off live then surely every single person in the world needs to witness it! My personal favourite track from the album comes up next in the form of The First Stone. This is a track which is going to reaffirm your faith in the world of metal, make you get up, rip your shirt off and demand everyone around you bows down to you at the gates of Ziltonia – ok I’m getting carried away but trust me, this is a track you need to hear. Breakdown after breakdown hammers at you whilst the drums pound away, gradually chipping away at your ear drums, the bass shaking everything around you and the vocals pummelling you in the face repeatedly. If you only check out one track from these guys, my advice is to make it this one, purely because it will make you want to hear the rest of the album!
Humility confirms any reference to Pantera, opening with a Dime Bag style guitar line before cranking the distortion up to the next level and launching to a hammering mix of raw aggression. Another track which isn’t for the feint hearted, this is surely one which is going to destroy live venues where ever the band play. What’s really striking about this track is the time signatures which the band use through it, they swap and change them at every turn meaning you never know for sure what you’re going to get next. Marching ever onwards into Autonomy, the album continues its distorted journey and allows you to tag along. Faster, heavier and somehow even more full on than the tracks before it, this is one which you’re either going to love or hate. Personally, I love this style of sheer power and am loving this track even now, but it’s some seriously seriously heavy shit!
Hidden Empire is the penultimate track on the album, opening with an almost funky guitar line based around a rolling drum line, the whole mix encouraging you up once again and getting those pits moving around the place. Once again keeping everything interesting through the changing time signatures they choose to use, this is one which on the live scene is going to get crowds tearing the place apart and lapping up every second of it from the band. Title track Flood The Common Ground closes the album, and what a way to close things off. Opening with all of the power from the album so far once again, this is a track which is going to leave you in a cold sweat, waking up at 3am screaming the name of the band just so you can get another hit of it. Heavy once again, this is a track which demonstrates what a band can do when they think about their tracks rather than just hitting that distortion pedal, it’s heavy but incredibly well put together.
I expected heavy from Misguided Aggression, but not this heavy. What you’ve got here is a band which seems to have harnessed all of the power of metal and built it into tracks which blow your mind. Gone is the simple riff and here is the future, music which doesn’t do what you expect, but instead grabs you by the throat and makes you question every single thing you ever knew – and I for one have loved every second of it!
To find out more about Misguided Aggression, check out their Facebook page HERE.
As the Intro builds into the album, there’s a real sense that what is about to happen is going to be one of two things – 1). Heavy, 2). Insane – and I know which I’m hoping for! The spoken word which leads into the tracks is quite moving as well as you listen to it, discussing how the media can lead to personal feelings which aren’t well founded, but onto the album. Winter Soldier holds the answer about what to expect, and you’ll be happy to know that it is indeed, heavy! Powerful, raw, distorted and downright mental from the word go, this is a track which isn’t for you fans of Mr Beiber out there (yeah right….as if he’s got any fans who listen to real music!), this is for those of you who want to hear music which is going to make your blood run faster, get you out of your seat and get you to destroy everything around you. As if to show they’ve still got more up their sleeve, Chasing Sanity follows on and once again pummels you to the floor with their hammering riffs, roaring vocals and insane drumming. Akin to Fear Factory at times musically but matching all of the comparisons drawn on their one sheet, this is a hell of a way to be introduced to a band – it’s like being introduced to the front end of a bus whilst you’re crossing the street.
The Visionary seems to follow on perfectly, once again opening at a hammering pace and grabbing you by your face to come along for the ride. Rolling double bass pedals assault you from every direction, hammering guitars rove around whilst some of the most insane vocals you’ll ever hear pound around in your ear drums, if these guys can pull this off live then surely every single person in the world needs to witness it! My personal favourite track from the album comes up next in the form of The First Stone. This is a track which is going to reaffirm your faith in the world of metal, make you get up, rip your shirt off and demand everyone around you bows down to you at the gates of Ziltonia – ok I’m getting carried away but trust me, this is a track you need to hear. Breakdown after breakdown hammers at you whilst the drums pound away, gradually chipping away at your ear drums, the bass shaking everything around you and the vocals pummelling you in the face repeatedly. If you only check out one track from these guys, my advice is to make it this one, purely because it will make you want to hear the rest of the album!
Humility confirms any reference to Pantera, opening with a Dime Bag style guitar line before cranking the distortion up to the next level and launching to a hammering mix of raw aggression. Another track which isn’t for the feint hearted, this is surely one which is going to destroy live venues where ever the band play. What’s really striking about this track is the time signatures which the band use through it, they swap and change them at every turn meaning you never know for sure what you’re going to get next. Marching ever onwards into Autonomy, the album continues its distorted journey and allows you to tag along. Faster, heavier and somehow even more full on than the tracks before it, this is one which you’re either going to love or hate. Personally, I love this style of sheer power and am loving this track even now, but it’s some seriously seriously heavy shit!
Hidden Empire is the penultimate track on the album, opening with an almost funky guitar line based around a rolling drum line, the whole mix encouraging you up once again and getting those pits moving around the place. Once again keeping everything interesting through the changing time signatures they choose to use, this is one which on the live scene is going to get crowds tearing the place apart and lapping up every second of it from the band. Title track Flood The Common Ground closes the album, and what a way to close things off. Opening with all of the power from the album so far once again, this is a track which is going to leave you in a cold sweat, waking up at 3am screaming the name of the band just so you can get another hit of it. Heavy once again, this is a track which demonstrates what a band can do when they think about their tracks rather than just hitting that distortion pedal, it’s heavy but incredibly well put together.
I expected heavy from Misguided Aggression, but not this heavy. What you’ve got here is a band which seems to have harnessed all of the power of metal and built it into tracks which blow your mind. Gone is the simple riff and here is the future, music which doesn’t do what you expect, but instead grabs you by the throat and makes you question every single thing you ever knew – and I for one have loved every second of it!
To find out more about Misguided Aggression, check out their Facebook page HERE.