Mass Slavery

Four years after their immature debut, Italian thrashers Death Mechanism return with their sophomore album, with sincere hopes they had realized the several problems of their first major release. Now, truth be told, there isn't much, if any, 'new' material on Mass Slavery. The first four tracks were already released on 2008's demo War Crimes, while the remaining ten are, inexplicably, nothing less than... the whole Human Error .. Global Terror in all its flawed majesty. Oh Lord, not again.

While I wasn't already fond of the idea of re-listening to the debut, hearing it after the more recent tracks makes the several progresses made by the band stand out in a cruel way. Yes, you read that correctly, the band had gone miles since their first steps, as it should always be. I don't know if, in the meantime, the vocalist noticed he could make a honestly good Darren Travis impression and convinced his bandmates to go for that route, but I'll be damned if Death Mechanism here don't manage to nail the style of early Sadus (almost) to a T. Some differences are there, Pozza avoids reaching Travis' peaks of obnoxiousness in the high shrieks, the bass is logically less busy, and the songwriting choices are generally less disorienting, but the feel is there and it's honestly pretty good stuff all around.

All four tracks stay loyal to the diktat of high-octane venomous thrash attempted on Human Error .. Global Terror, with the noticeable difference that they actually manage to snap necks and grind bones wherever they push that throttle pedal. The compositions finally feel complete, with way more room to breathe even without extending their length (most are still around 3 minutes), refrains are there, solos are just mediocre and not laughable anymore, for a change, and overall the riffs just sound more inspired, all exemplified by the devastating title-track and opener, easily the best of the pack. The rest more or less follows suit, with that enormous Sadus shadow always looming and monitoring (just check 2:40 of 'Bloody Busine$$'), possibly giving its seal of approval, if I may dare.

Based on all of the above, you might imagine my disappointment in hearing 'Anthropic Collapse' start again soon after, despite being one of the better cuts that follow. The issues are of course still here, the unfinished compositions, the abysmal leadwork, but it's all magnified by ten given the goodness of the material that preceded it. There's a good EP, with a great song moreover, you should check out within Mass Slavery, and I can't say that the two parts don't share any common features, but the contrast (and especially the drop in quality) is sadly evident. If you missed my previous review, 'Slaughter in the Jet-Set' marks a late highlight of the 'old' tracks, and if you're not frustrated by occasionally killer, but directionless short songs you might as well give it a try, but I suggest doing it in a separate instance, at the very least.

As it stands, experiencing the album in its entirety is the audio equivalent of spending some time with that ugly friend of your crush, hoping to make a good impression on your loved one – although the new songs/old songs ratio being 4/10 would mean that you'll have to bear 2,5 ugly friends for one crush. Check for yourself if it's worth it.

-review written for the 10th Diamhea Memorial Review Challenge – may you rest in peace, Chris.