Torture Tunes
I turned on the music files, bloody scared, seven more tracks to hear. I feel like those stupid kids running through the woods trying to get away from a mass murderer with a big machete just itching to cut me up! Fear consumes my being and I am trapped inside my headphones...and I think I like it!
Lord Dying will terrorize you with their second release Poisoned Altars. Big sounds from yet another band with only three dudes. Make no mistake, the crazed lumberjack looking guys in this band may look creepy, give you chills, and make you poop your pants; but you will love every frightening moment!
The chase is on with the first number and title track “Poisoned Altars”. A piss and vinegar tune about religion and how fake a lot of them are. "The Clearing at the End of the Path" is just another dead end you run into as your head spins to look for an escape that is not there. The thunder you hear is the deafening drums, the pain you feel is the guitars scratching and clawing as they grab and drag you to their cave of torture. "Open Sore" gives a whole new meaning to the word brutality, also vocally moving to the point of swaying. All the aggression surrounding this song, building emotion as you get lost in the lyrics is its own oxymoron, Beautifully Brutal. Traumatized and dazed I continue on through the endless din. "A wound Outside of Time" is infectious. Savagely groovy, it crushes with every beat. I am empty and "Offering Pain (and an Open Minded Center)" as I gasp for every breath.
My worst fear has been revealed as I am forced to be "Suckling at the Teat of a She-Beast”. Horrified and wet I trudge, realizing that all my running is for naught. Illumed that "(All Hopes of a New Day)...Extinguished..." At last I come to the end of the road just running around in circles. Exhausted, I crawl through the tall grass and blinding thorns. This bear trap of a song snaps its rusted jaws around my torso as "Darkness Remains" is my only fate. Heavy and weighed down are the tones that are released upon my unsuspecting skull; comatose.
Downside is that there are not many guitar solos for a group that can obviously shred. Sometimes the tone was so thick it was almost like mud but I think that's what they were going for because it works. Upside are the stylings I hear of early Prong and Sepultura, both in rhythm and vocals which are tight and brutal.
As the band Dangerous Toys said, "Hey man, I think I like being scared and I wish you all were there!" As Ozzy said, "Get the record, check ‘em out on Facebook, grab some stuff and suck your thumb in fetal position. They will get you (oh, and "Sleep with one eye open)!
Tim Duran, HMS
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