Artist: Lock Up
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 2/15/00
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Title: Pleasures Pave Sewers Artist: Lock Up Label: Nuclear Blast Release Date: 2/15/00 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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Abyss's Review:
Here we go another "supergroup" side project… This one pitting Shane Embury, and Jesse Pintado from Napalm Death, with Cradle of Filth/Dimmu Borgir drummer Nick Barker, topped off with the vocal stylings of Peter "Hypocrisy" Tagtgren. Pretty impressive line-up, but what happens when you take Hypocrisy’s neo-death, mixed with black metal drums, and the grind of Napalm Death? Do you get neo-noir death ground over? Do you get Louisiana Blackened Chuggin’? How ‘bout Hip-Hop smoothed out on the R&B tip with a pop feel/appeal to it? No, surprisingly enough you get grindcore. See these guys aren’t trying to create a new sound, they’re trying to perfect an older one.
"What happens when you take Hypocrisy’s neo-death, mixed with black metal drums, and the grind of Napalm Death? Do you get neo-noir death ground over? Do you get Louisiana Blackened Chuggin’? How ‘bout Hip-Hop smoothed out on the R&B tip with a pop feel/appeal to it? No, surprisingly enough you get grindcore." With a shoestring budget, these gentlemen amassed in Abyss Studios in the northern wasteland of Sweden, and carved these songs out with no effects, no gimmicks, just a brutal love of metal. And they’ve done a pretty fuckin’ good job. As with most grindcore that is inbred with death, speed is in no short supply. The thundering blastbeats and double bass pound away at your cranial cavity, and once you let them in you won’t be able to wipe the evil grin off of your face. Because this is what so many of us have been waiting for. Speed, of course, is pointless unless you can offset the chaos with some nice head banging grooves, and Lock-up deliver on all fronts. Try to count the tempo changes in "Slow Bleed Gorgon/Pleasures Pave Sewers," and most of the songs encapsulate the same range (rage?) of speed.
But where grind proves itself is in the changes, and the groove….C’mon sing with me…"Groovin’ on a Sunday afternoon…." …oops sorry. Anyway, one of my favorite tracks, "Triple Six Suck Angels," I guess could be considered a textbook example of what these transitions should sound like. And once you get set in your groove, they rip it away in a blizzard of rhythm again. This is probably my favorite grind release since Nasum’s debut. However, this release is a little more toward the death end than Nasum, which makes the songs stand out a little more as individuals.
For all the emphasis of this being barely produced, the sound is just fine by me. With the exception of the vocals sounding a little strained in a few (very few) spots, it seems Peter has done another impressive job. Pretty much every track is a standout, and my only real complaint is that the disc is over so soon. Buy it.
Death's Review:
Do you yearn for a litte rawness in your metal? Craving a bit of that old-school speed-thrash bite, with a grindy helping of speed thrown in for good measure? Then try Lock Up. They'll rip your freakin' head off.
There's nothing even a little bit pretentious about this release. No keys, no goth, just complete and total metal. Lock Up is the product of the collaboration between seasoned metal warriors Peter Tagtgren of Hypocrisy, Shane Embury and Jesse Pintado of Napalm Death, and Nick Barker, now of Dimmu Borgir and formerly of Cradle of Filth. And the union does not disappoint: this death-meets-grind collection shreds with the old school vibe you would expect from such a lineup.
"Do you yearn for a litte rawness in your metal? Then try Lock Up. They'll rip your freakin' head off." The opener, "Afterlife in Purgatory" rips so fast that Barker surely must have had to practice the activity which gives this band its name (something to do with how drummers get ready to endure long-term blast beats). It's not until the closing moments of the album's second track, "Submission," that the true head-banging mania of Pleasures Pave Sewers can be known. For me, the speed riffing is of mediocre interest. It is the slower and midtempo thrashing which makes me love this record. If you are of like mind, you'll probaly find that closing riff to "Submission" just absolutely god-like. As it is, you've got to tie me down (or at least hide the breakables) every time I listen to it.
It is to the extent that Lock Up evoke the sickness of old-school Slayer, Carcass, Dark Angel, Kreator and the like that I can rate this as highly as I do. Songs like "Triple Six Suck Angels" (nice title), begin with a riff that's so Slayer that for moments it is little more than Tagtgren's unique vocal style (yes, he sounds just like you'd imagine on this release) which sets it apart. Barker's drumming contains the necessary Lombardo-inspired mega-fills as well. More Slayer can be found on "The Dreams Are Sacrificed" -- if you use your imagination you can almost hear "War Ensemble" somehwere in there. Do you like Sepultura, when they used to be metal? Check out "Slow Bleed Gorgon." And is that Barker or Gene Hoglan pounding away on the head-banging midtempo parts of "Delerium?" You decide.
"So if you are looking for an antidote to the arty, layered headphone bands so prevalent today, and instead want to bang your head till your ears bleed, Lock Up is for you." Of course, Lock Up go way beyond simply rehashing the Slayer and Dark Angel records of yore. The Napalm Death grind influence is everywhere. This brings a more modern sound to the release than the isolated neck snapping riffage discussed above would otherwise indicate. Make no mistake about it, this album is fast, through and through.
So if you are looking for an antidote to the arty, layered headphone bands so prevalent today, and instead want to bang your head till your ears bleed, Lock Up is for you. If you don't mind a little excessive speed with your thrashiness, then you'll surely dig Pleasures Pave Sewers. But if you are looking for atmosphere or catchiness, look elsewhere. For my tastes, Lock Up serve their purpose well. Check 'em out.
Hel's Review:
Like Demons & Wizards, another highly anticipated side project. This is an incredibly explosive album from four talented individuals who are in other great bands. I think that I can no longer beat the dead horse of, "sounds like: ___." I did that enough in my Demons & Wizards review and I think I've established my principles quite firmly. This album also meets the criteria set forth there. And how.
So instead of rehashing that old, passé topic, I think this time I need to refer more to the menacing death vocals, the heavy drumming, the hectic guitar riffs, and the thundering bass that is Lock Up. On one level, I guess you could say it is simply an awesome death metal album. On another, the level on which I base my opinions, it is one of the most mind-blowingly heavy albums ever heard.
"It's over practically before you know what hit you. And I consider that an important hallmark of a great album - you get so lost in the album that you have no idea where the time went." Think unrestrained barrage of raw metal drumming and you start to get the picture. Add a death metal voice that is the epitome of evil, lightning fast guitar riffage and bombastic bass in combination with that, and you have what I consider to be a superior metal release. So good, in fact, that I cannot fathom how this could not be a perfect album.
If I absolutely, gun to my head, had to come up with something to complain about, I would have to ask a question. How can it be over so fast? It must be in tribute to the speed of the music itself - it's over practically before you know what hit you. And I consider that an important hallmark of a great album - you get so lost in the album that you have no idea where the time went. I guess, in this case at least, the old adage holds true - time really does fly when you're having fun.
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