Canadian d-beaters DECONTROL remind us that it's been a long lonely, lonely (lonely lonely) time since DISCHARGE's early records kicked us in our arses. Here we are in 2005, and admittedly most of the available heavy riffs have already been used up. But that doesn't mean that blatant style-copping from our favorite bands is necessarily a bad thing. In fact, in the last couple of years, impressive platters from bands imitating VENOM (INCRIMINATED), SLAYER (RITUAL CARNAGE), SABBATH (STARCHILD, CHURCH OF MISERY), and MOTÖRHEAD (newer ZEKE) have received beaming attaboys from us for great songs and also for occasionally moving classic sounds in a forward-thinking direction.

When you reach this high, there's a long way to fall. And while DECONTROL huffs and puffs with a monstrous bottom-end roar and some cool egg-scrambly leads, it's just not enough to blow the house down. Shane's vocals are buried deep in the mix and often difficult to hear. The band seems stuck on a "The Blood Runs Red" sort of tempo for the full duration of the disc. And while classic DISCHARGE cuts like "A Hell on Earth" and "Protest and Survive" were impossible to forget, these tracks are impossible to remember. The live show is probably a hoot, but this CD isn't. Punks sneer comments like, "That guy doesn't get it." depending on your interpretation of their favorite artists. In the case of this CD, they'd be absolutely right. Don't subscribe.

- Marchman

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