January of each new year is usually spent sorting through the releases from the previous year that we didn't quite get to, and in most cases there usually are a few that would have warranted some serious exposure here on Sea of Tranquility had we gotten to them in time of their original release. Misery Index's Traitors is one of those releases, not only a killer death metal/grindcore CD, but one that without a doubt would have made it somewhere on my Best of 2008 list had I heard this little slab 'o devastation a month earlier. From start to finish, Traitors is pure brutality, yet surprisingly melodic in spots, the band fusing death metal, hardcore, and the technicality of grind for one pummeling batch of songs that just might be the best thing they have done yet. It's hard not to get sucked in by the churning guitar riffs, relentless drum blasts, and furious vocal growls on tunes like "Theocracy", "Ghosts of Catalonia", and the evil title track. Drummer Adam Jarvis is quite the virtuoso, his array of frenzied double bass, inhuman blast beats, and pounding groove propel these extreme metal gems to new heights, and the guitar work from both Mark Kloppel & Sparky Voyles simply smashes your brain to a pulp track after track. Gotta love the dual vocal attack from Kloppel and bassist Jason Netherton, the two employing plenty of gargantuan growls and psychotic screams throughout, really ripping it up on "Occupation" and the deathly "Thrown Into The Sun".
This is extreme as it gets folks, pure old fashioned brutality that's well played, well produced, and well executed all around. I don't think the metal world can ignore these guys any longer.
Track Listing
1. We Never Come In Peace 1:59
2. Theocracy 4:31
3. Partisans of Grief 3:36 9
4. Traitors 2:23
5. Ghosts of Catalonia 5:00
6. Occupation 4:43
7. Ruling Class Cancelled 2:07
8. Black Sites 2:02
9. American Idolatry 2:19
10. Thrown Into The Sun 3:58
11. Black Sites 4:44
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