New World Order

In the realm of EPs, New World Order doesn’t do very much to make itself memorable. Sure, the album tracks released prior to Tribute to Totalitarianism actually pre-date the album by 3 years, which seems quite a feat, but seeing as half the material arrived in better shape later on, I’m not sure that New World Order still merits attention. Yes, that’s right, both ‘For God & Country’ and ‘Sword of Damocles’ sound re-recorded for the 2008 full-length, leaving the former a few seconds shorter and the latter pulled out of rather iffy sound quality to the full-bodied guitar production that came later.

The basis of Izegrim’s sound around this period was a consistently thrashier take on Arch Enemy’s melodeath sound, a point on which the vocals most obviously concur. Those 2 briefer cuts shoot fairly straight with the formula, favouring riffs much above any lead work, allowing ‘World Power (or Downfall)’ the privilege of branching off with slower downtime after its initial burst of groovy riffing volatility. Perhaps the experimental side of the 7 minute song doesn’t play to the Dutch group’s strengths, yet a certain satisfaction can be gleaned from Izegrim trying something quite different to usual, which has rarely marked any of their album material. A wider palette of riffing styles works wonders for a largely homogeneous band.

The only other exclusive song puzzles me slightly, because I’m listening to something called ‘Heavy Metal’, which replaces this website’s listed ‘Fuck Your Glorious Nation’. The sound quality feels reminiscent of a demo or even rehearsal, with 2 vocal tracks conflicting and complementing one another at various points, such as during the chanted chorus. Likewise, the purpose of the song is at odds with the largely political tone of the band’s contemporary songs, plus the style veers away from high-impact riffing for a lo-fi underground, um, heavy metal feel. Ending with samples of nasty puking confuses me even more. As an offputting conclusion to a fairly inessential and underwhelming EP, the puking exaggerates my feelings, though it might seem apt for some.