ANGER AS ART

Hubris, Inc.

Old School Metal
rating icon 8.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Hubris Inc.
02. Time Devours Life
03. Gods Of Hate
04. Anger Is The Reason
05. Speed Kills
06. This Is Why I Hate
07. As The Exalted Seethe
08. Pearls Before The Swine
09. Divided We Fall
10. Head Of The Snake
11. The Evil You Create
12. Pieces Of Red
13. Rage And Retribution
14. Never Forgive Never Forget


Birthed from a cult metal act and likely destined to remain cult in its new formation, ANGER AS ART lives thrash as its lineage and not just as a nostalgia trip.

Gen X speed freaks ABBATOIR have incrementally crawled back to life following the lead of founder Steve Gaines under the banner of ANGER AS ART. Gaines, who has trooped all over the metal underground beyond ABBATOIR in BLOODLUST, BITCH, DREAMS OF DAMNATION and TACTICS amongst others, first laid down an eight song album released under his own name. Gaines fielded all of the instruments against a drum machine and the project would later resurface as ANGER AS ART's first official release.

Two more of Gaines' ABBATOIR bandmates (guitarist Danny Oliverio and drummer Rob Alaniz) have since filled in the gaps over recent years to give ANGER AS ART a proper roster along with HIRAX and REVEREND bassist Angelo Espino. Thus the band's fourth album, "Hubris, Inc." is a wicked fast thrash machine in the classic Cali style. It's as legitimate as ABBATOIR and any of their speed demon brethren of the Eighties. This is vintage west coast thrash and there's a reason it's championed by a label called Old School Metal Records.

"This is Why I Hate", "Speed Kills", "Anger is the Reason", "Pearls Before the Swine", "Time Devours Life" and "Pieces of Red" are just handfuls of the careening chaos sweeping listeners into the gory channels of speed metal heyday. No matter how many bands on the scene today can whip up shred tsunamis, ANGER AS ART is unabashed, full-frontal fury with mere random interludes and breakdowns amidst the album's persistent force. The mid-tempo slither of "As the Exalted Seethe" is about as slow as it gets on "Hubris, Inc." and it hardly offers respite from the album's relentlessness.

The album's hellacool moment comes on the guest party of "Rage and Retribution" which includes Steve Gaines in a screaming duet with Betsy Bitch, plus DARK ANGEL guitarist Jim Durkin and STRYPER bassist Timothy Gaines. Yeah, you read that right, Timothy Gaines, and he keeps as blistering a pace as everyone else on the track. Also in the cameo department on "Hubris, Inc." is EVIL DEAD's Steve Nelson throwing out some backing vocals on "The Evil You Create", plus the album's finest hour, "Speed Kills", which hails former ABBATOIR lead guitarist Mark Caro. In effect, "Speed Kills" (originally conceived in 1984) represents a one-shot full ABBATOIR reunion and they make the most of the moment. For certain, Caro brings a distinct cadence to the note-happy top lines on the intro and the song rockets from there. His solo scorches too, for good measure.

However long this metal revival will go on in the American underground, it's at least a happy day to hear its originating constituents having such a blast and showing everyone else how this shit's done.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).