Brust
"Razor Ride"
(Deadclaw Records) 

Some bands seem to be more concerned with making noise rather than music. Burst seems to be one such band. They are basically a bunch of Pantera wannabees (and aren't there more than enough of those in the world already?), thrashing it out aggressively and violently, with ham-fisted, Dimebag-style riffs, leaving little room for melody. Lead vocalist/guitarist Sean Hughes sounds pretty much like a second rate Phil Anselmo, torturing his tonsils as if a cattle prod were being rammed up his ass! These guys may be giving it their all, but they're not the best musicians, and all their songs sound pretty much the same. Aggressive and violent they may be, original and talented they are not. Plus, this album's production is awful! It sounds like a badly recorded demo, making things even worse! If there were any songs that caught my attention, one was "Hammer Fist Bludgeons", which is very appropriately titled. The song does just that, pounds the listener like a sledgehammer! In some other tunes, like "Lockjaw", "Grindcrusher", and the title track, they let some Nine Inch Nails influence creep in, but it doesn't really work that well. The two styles just don't gel, at least not in the hands of Burst. Another song, "The Spreading Plague", is a rather strange track. It's a bottom-heavy tune that is mostly thumping percussion, tribal-like drums, and vocals, with a sprinkling of keyboards. Well, it's different, if nothing else. In the aforementioned "Grindcrusher", Sean Hughes wails that he "likes lots of friction". Well, there's plenty of that here. As I said, this is a hard, aggressive album. Unfortunately, however, the playing leaves something to be desired, not to mention the godawful production! That and the lack of originality this band has. As I said, there are already too many Pantera rip-offs around today. If you're going to make noise, at least make it original noise! At fifty minutes and thirteen songs, this album was a chore to get through.

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