The Global Cannibal

I remember the first time I ever heard the song Light It Up by Behind Enemy Lines from their album The Global Cannibal, at the time I was very much into crust punk although I had always been a big fan of death metal, thrash, and grind, and it was at about that moment in time I relaized that it was possible to mix between genres and still produce a sound and quality of music that isn't scene-ish and lame.


The first thing that caught my attentio about this whole album is it's use of down tuned guitar riffs, while it has been done previously in the crust punk and thrash genres it has never been done in my opinion to much success. On this album Behind Enemy Lines has managed to mix between mostly what I would say is thrash and crust while maintaining a very heavy and consistent sound, never too much crust, never too much thrash giving it a well balanced sound.


The second thing that caught my attention was the drummer. Let's be honest how many punk influenced bands have you ever heard with a formiddable drummer? My answer was none until discovering this band. While fast parts and punk rhythmic sections are still there the drummer seems to have a good understanding of his instrument and does not continuously wail on his open hi hat, bass drum, and snare the whole time.


Lyrically this album impressed me the most, as someone who considers himself somewhat of a far leftist thinker, this album got me listening immediately, the band obviously has deep convictions that show up lyrically in every song that they play. Revolutionary minded throughout the lyrics are well written and well constructed making them easy to follow and understand whithout long words and complicated ideas. They also manage to conver a wide range of political topics that might otherwise be ignored by many people in everyday life. I also like that the songs have meaning more than just the typical anti statist punk theology that is so common in crust inspired bands.


This album is one of my favorites and what I consider to be one of the best examples of the crossover genre today.