Chicago's Bludgeon holds the distinction of the being the first band to be signed to Magic Circle Records (founded by Manowar bassist Joey DeMaio) upon the release of their debut Crucify the Priest a few years back. Now they are set to unlease World Controlled, the brand new album also produced by DeMaio. Bludgeon are basically an exteme metal band who throw bits of hardcore, trash, speed, and death metal into their stew pot, cook it up for a few hours, and come up with some serviceable metallic sounds.
There's some decent metal here, like the brutal mosh attitude of "Consumed By Anger", the raging thrash/hardcore attack of "Unholy Murder", the slashing riffs of the 80's thrash influenced "Infidel", and the pounding Pantera-ish fury of "World Controlled". For fans of blazing hardcore with insane double bass drum mayhem (drummer Ryan Blazek is THE star here), check out "Refuse the Truth" and "Hunt or Be Hunted", but for my money I'll take the sledgehammer metal of "Awakening" any day, complete with a non-stop barrage of intense drum work and heavy riffs.
While World Controlled is a solid album, the vocals of Mark Duca tend to get a little tedious after a while, as he rarely varies his delivery much. In addition, many of the songs sound a little too similar to each other after repeated listens. Still, fans of well played, compact hardcore/metal will find lots to like here. Just don't expect anything truly groundbreaking.
Track Listing
1. Unholy Murder
2. Carnage Begins
3. Bitter Emptiness
4. Consumed By Anger
5. Infidel
6. World Controlled
7. Save Your Servant
8. Refuse The Truth
9. Hunt Or Be Hunted
10. Awakening
11. Out Of Reach
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