For those who deride heavy metal as escapist, Misery Index's Traitors is a convincing rebuttal. The subject matter of its 11 tracks:1. U.S. government deception in peace dealings with Native Americans.2. Separation of church and state.3. Privileged liberals.4. A "terrorist" to some is a "freedom fighter" to others.5. Anarchist fighters of the Spanish Civil War.6. Middle East occupation by Israel and the U.S.7. A fantasy about uprising by the masses.8. "Work your whole life, and you die with nothing."9. Celebrity worship.10. The world is going to hell.11. State-sponsored torture in secret locations.Whole Foods this is not; Misery Index's brand of progressivism is decidedly bleak. (One song on Traitors, though, is almost upbeat in its defiance: "This land is fucking your land/ And not through them defined/ By fucking flags on SUVs/ or Super Bowl halftimes.") The band began in 2001 when half of the similarly political Dying Fetus seceded. Early efforts sounded like Terrorizer covering Slayer; in recent years, the band's sound has slimmed down to a precise, melodic blend of death metal and grindcore. Unlike colleagues Brutal Truth or Napalm Death, Misery Index have grown less experimental over time. They rely on standard minor scales with occasional flatted seconds and fifths for color. The message is progressive, but the sound is conservative.It hits hard, though. Recording engineer Kurt Ballou dials in a sound falling somewhere between "battering ram" and "machine gun." Adam Jarvis' drumming is astonishingly athletic; he propels otherwise slow half-time passages with helicopter rotor kicks. In the title track, he rotates fluidly between thrash polka and clattering blastbeats. The riffs are streamlined and hefty. A few ornaments add texture-- stinging string rakes in "Ghosts of Catalonia", black metal-esque jangles in "Partisans of Grief". Bassist/vocalist Jason Netherton sounds like a very angry man; he pulls no punches at his political blog, www.demockery.org.Despite its blunt force, this record is a thought-provoking package. In the liner notes, Netherton accompanies each song with a famous quote. For example, there's Albert Einstein's "Never do anything against conscience" line, and Nietzsche's oft-cited saw about gazing into an abyss. Such invocations could come cheaply, but they match the songs. They also add depth to the polemics, though Netherton can turn a good line himself. (On Hollywood celebrities: "They are ink and pixels... yet they walk the earth as gods.") Relapse graphic designer Orion Landau pairs the text with politically charged montages indebted to antiestablishment artists John Heartfield and Larry Carroll. These polarized times call for constructive discourse. But if Misery Index can destroy the opposition six ways 'til Sunday, so be it.
Wavelength
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