Friday, February 17, 2012

Record Review: Čad - “Ťažký Kov” (My Sleeping Cat Records)

Genre: Progressive Crust/Metal
Country: Slovakia
Label: My Sleeping Cat website facebook
Band website: facebook bandzone

Metallic crustcore is not known to be the most innovative of genres. However, there is always the exception to the rule, like CAD, who are at least a few years ahead of their game. These Slovakian crust maniacs have been at it for a while, having released a number of eps with well known crust and grind/death bands like Unholy Grave, Entrails Massacre and Ripcord. However, Cad has the cleverness to avoid all crust cliches and go on to create heavy music that isn't necessarily blackened and can go down well with any fan of brutal sounds. The name of the game here is progressive crustcore, but don't ever think that it is not brutal enough cause you will be in for a surpirse. A big one. The band actually calls its style 'ripcore' which is fine by me, cause this hardcore hybrid does in fact truly rip!

You can understand what I mean by the above from looking at the record cover. Grim and mysterious though it may be, it doesn't stick to the black/white colors and skull/war imagery that is so fucking commonplace in crust. The same happens with the music and lyrics. This devastating mix of crust and extreme metal does destroy our ears, but it also packs a dose of white light; technical proficiency and a touch of upbeat rock and roll-ness do the trick. The lyrics (which come in a translated sheet of paper as Cad sing in their native language) are rooted in the hardcore tradition of looking at the world through eyes of contempt, but also with a positive mind.  More things that differentiate this not-so-ordinary crustcore outfit is the fact that they are straight edge (or at least drug-free) and that they have a female in their ranks. The more you learn about this band, the more interesting stuff you discover.


Now we should mention some things about the album title Heavy Metal in our Chestrs. It may sound funny to some, but I for one am totally down with it. Heavy metal here is the term which depicts differentiation, our culture, the underground, the flame in your heart -- whatever you want to call it. One lyric reads "we're the worms from the underground and we're eating everything, we have bloody jaws and bite the heavy metal". This is exactly what I'm talking about. This is what makes us alive... Metal, hardcore, punk, whatever it is you identify with is the thing that saved your life and Cad are here to represent this notion. The rest of the lyrics are expressions of hatred towards society, or slightly humorous poems about death on golf courses and zombie massacres.

OK, and of course I shall also provide some record info for us nerdy freaks. Ťažký Kov has been released as a 12" by My Sleeping Cat Records. It is printed on plain black vinyl and I have to say that the album art does indeed look rad on this edition, because you can see all the fine detail and try to figure out what the fuck it is you're watching exactly. As mentioned above the lyrics are included in the package with their english traslantion. Support this awesome DIY effort and own a record that will stand out in your tried n true vinyl collection!
- Fotis.TYS

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