Nails: Abandon all Life

There's a saying: The days are long, but the years are short. The idea, obviously, has to do with the paradoxical nature of time, its swift and sudden moments of joy, its labored and difficult moments of sorrow. I'm speaking in the broadest, most general terms here, but I can't help think of this album in similar terms. In this case, though, the songs are short but the album is long.

Take a look at some of the song lengths here. "Tyrant" and "Absolute Control" clock in at 42 seconds each; "Cry Wolf" passes more quickly at 23 seconds. The last song, most notably, is well over 5 minutes long. The varieties of songwriting here should prove more interesting than they do; most of the songs, though, come from the same creative source; they could even be fragments of a longer song. I do admire the ability to put something pointed and fast and strong together. Sometimes they work really well, as in the speedy productions of certain hardcore bands. My problem was that I couldn't always distinguish between the songs as readily or as easily as I would have preferred. If this band has a musical fingerprint, a distinguishing feature, it's the combined brevity and aggressiveness of the music, qualities we've heard before.

To be fair, I admire the underground rebelliousness of all this, particularly the attempt to bring an aggressive attack to listeners calloused by an increasingly bland death metal scene. Still, I would have liked more variety here, more opportunities to get to know the band and their sound. The last track, "Suum Cuique," the long song I mentioned above, hints at a more sludgy, slower, direction. I liked it pretty well, but wasn't bowled over by it. This is for fans of constant and short bursts of aggression. Nails hits the road with label mates Xibalba this spring.

Track Listing:
1. In Exodus
2. Tyrant
3. Absolute Control
4. God's Cold Hands
5. Wide Open Wound
6. Abandon All Life
7. No Surrender
8. Pariah
9. Cry Wolf
10. Suum Cuique

Added: March 2nd 2013
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Label Page
Hits: 2256
Language: english

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