Severed Head of State - Anathema Device - Tested Heavy Metal Thrash Cassette

Here's some vicious hardcore from current and former members of Detestation, His Hero is Gone, Tragedy, and World Burns to Death (as you probably already know). This record is a bit more diverse than the band's previous work, ranging from fast paced blasts of somewhat noisy hardcore to slower and more metallic riffing with a little bit of interesting dissonant melody (check out "Dust to Dust"). The vocals are lightly distorted shouts that never let up, they just occasionally venture out of the midrange into higher or lower territory for a short time. It's still not the most original or powerful material in the world (I've always wanted this band to be a little bit better than I've ever found them to be), but this is a step in the right direction, and the cool thing is that aside from a few faint hints it doesn't really sound like any of their efforts with other bands (past or present). "All Too Human" even throws out some unexpected dual guitar harmonies before plunging forth into a charge of straight up hardcore/punk, while "An All-Consuming Mind" brings in some great melodic arpeggios and a really awesome tempo that has a driving sort of energy that some of the other tracks lack - definitely one of the true standouts. I like the recording. There's a lot of distortion, but things don't get too messy and nothing seems overpowering. It's not clean, but it's not really raw either, it's right about where it should be. They still need to let the bass play a larger role, though. The bass playing is fucking stellar, but it's sort of hard to hear, not so much because the bass lacks definition or because it's distorted, but simply because it doesn't feel loud enough. The basslines perfectly accentuate both the drumming and the guitar riffs by rhythmically weaving back and forth with technical runs that still remind me of Econochrist on occasion (strictly speaking of the bass performance). Other than that the mix is right on, though. The layout is awesome. There's a lot of black on dark gray printing that creates some interesting effects, and the imagery is really dismal but visually powerful. The front cover shows a worn and armless statue of a crucified Christ, while the back shows a completely decimated human corpse out on the ground in front of a church. Inside are some great live band photos and an iconic image of a pentagram inside of a crown of thorns. As all of this might suggest, the lyrics are vehemently anti-christian, but most of the phrasings are intelligent and unlike any hardcore/punk lyrics you've likely ever seen, if by word choice alone. "Let no one misunderstand the gospel of the future, the ultimate will to power by the beasts of prey. The prophets of great wars, heralds of confusion, prognostications of decline, consciousness of purposelessness. For the greatest crime of man is that he was born. Teaching this logic of terror of an eclipse of the sun, such as there has never been - never been on earth..." This is the best I've heard yet from Severed Head of State, so I hope they continue down this path, because if they do they'll really hit the mark in the future