ALBUM REVIEW: Corrupt Moral Altar - "Eunoia"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 23/08/2017

Label: Independent

Right off the bat, with opener "Human Cry," Corrupt Moral Altar demonstrate they have not lost an ounce of bombast or power. Their skill at overlaying guitars on guitars, and simply sandblasting your head with the kind of fire it specializes in is what has made the group renowned as one of the generation's most exciting performers

"Eunoia" DD track listing

1. Human Cry

2. Engineering Consent

3. Crime And Disease

4. Night Chant

5. Survivor's Guilt

6. Born In The Caul

7. Burning Bridges And Burning Homes

8. The All Consuming Self

9. Rat King

10. Destroying Everything You Believe In

11. Body Horror

12. On Judith's Birthday

13. Five Years

The Review:

The United Kingdom's Corrupt Moral Altar is a band you may know and love for its astoundingly fast and raw take on hardcore, thrash and grind. A demo and pair of EPs set the stage for its 2014 full length, “Mechanical Tides”. That release was popular at the moment because of its brawny sound and lyricism. Now, Corrupt Moral Altar returns with the hopes of plenty of hardcore fans on its back.

Vocalist Chris Reese has deft support in multi-instrumentalists John Cooke, Adam Clarkson and Tom Dring as Corrupt Moral Altar is back for 2017. Today, the group's return is "Eunoia." You have to appreciate dedication like this: 13 songs, and none of the one-minute-or-less variety that passes for extreme metal and can sometimes betray your eyes on first glance. Instead, you have fully formed cuts every one. By the way, the title is derived from a Greek word, but refers to the goodwill a speaker has with an audience. In this case, Corrupt Moral Altar's connection with fans is quite sturdy, for good reason.

Right off the bat, with opener "Human Cry," Corrupt Moral Altar demonstrates it has not lost an ounce of bombast or power. Its skill at overlaying guitars on guitars, and simply sandblasting your head with the kind of fire it specializes in is what has made the group renowned as one of the generation's most exciting performers. Reese keeps up the pace in spite of the ambitious package the band has offered. By the album's closer, "Five Years," which has a touch of sludge to the arrangement, one has to half-expect Reese has nearly howled himself to death. Not a chance. He goes hard until the final note.

Similarly, the rest of the group makes "Euonia" a real feast for metal devotees. The drumming on "The All Consuming Self" is savage, fast and unrelenting. The guitars in "Survivors Guilt" romp along with the vocals in a manner that feels just right. And you will come to appreciate how sharp the bass sounds on "Body Horror," complimenting the whole track and giving weight to the festivities. Beyond the individual performances, the quartet's talent at making what sounds like a flurry of sound so compelling is where you learn to appreciate "Eunoia" all the more. To the untrained ear, Corrupt Moral Altar may sound harsh as lye, but theirs is a scrumptious poison.

Finally, there are a variety of lyrical themes touched upon in "Euonia," from class divisions to religion and many other topics hardcore listeners have come to enjoy. In "Destroying Everything You Believe In," a consistent idea of pragmatism in a difficult world comes up again and again. Corrupt Moral Altar deserves credit for taking the songwriting several notches above 'religion bad, people good' that lazier acts have resorted to. "Atoms, time and mathematics/Civilization is not a sign of human progress, Reese howls. "We need to nail their tongues to the temple doors/It just feels like we are casting pearls at swine."

"Eunoia" manages to sound both aggressive and reasoned, and Corrupt Moral Altarmakes it back to remind you how much they were missed.

"Eunoia" is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

REVIEW: Beggar - "Chainscraper" (EP)

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 17/05/2017

Label: Independent

Still heavy, with flourishes of dank blues, Beggar sets a dense forecast on each track.

“Chainscraper” CD//DD track listing

1. Chainscraper

2. Take a Leaf

3. Our Good Name

4. Cryptid

The Review:

As metal bands go, London's Beggar is as active as they come. Formed in 2012, Beggar released a string of recordings, including its self-titled demo in 2013, “Beggar II” in 2014 and EPs in 2015 and 2016. Vocalist Charlie Davis, guitarists Abraham Whitworth and Jake Leyland and drummer Bertrand Sautier clearly have a significant amount of creative energy between them. With the group's third EP, "Chainscraper," Beggar's music seems primed for its next stage of development.

Those who have heard past works by Beggar will surely remember some of the more melodic tones to its work. Although the music has always been quite thick, there were plenty of hooks and strong rhythms from Sautier and Davis, who covers bass duties as well. This EP, the recording feels far more urgent with vocals much edgier than its last forays. Still heavy, with flourishes of dank blues, Beggar sets a dense forecast on each track. Some critics have likened the style to something south of Rage Against the Machine. It is possible to hear echoes of that group in the first 60 seconds of a track like "Cryptid" although what Beggar does is truthfully far different. There's certainly some groove, but it is without the rap and hip-hop influences of Rage. It is easier to hear something more like early Suicidal Tendencies in many of these riffs. For the pure metal fan, such is welcome news.

Beggar's new recording, in fact, unifies most with hard rock, punk and neo-blues inspirations to its already potent metal clang. Listeners get the gouge of classic metal and sludge from the beginning with the title track, then into "Take A Leaf," which sprinkles in just a bit of thrash too. It's really mellifluous, in fact. Rarely do you find yourself bobbing your head with a band's sticky tightness, but you get it here. Maybe it's band compatibility that lends to Beggar's prodigious output and just how enjoyable these guys are when they play together. However the group wrings out just excellent music, they do it with gusto on this new EP.

Throw up a high five to Davis, of course, for adeptly using this vehicle for his shouts, growls and brutal vocals on a song such as "Our Good Name." The lead on this EP is quite a standout. Then again, this new recording by Beggar reveals a band growing and getting better with time.

"Chainscraper" is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook