Touching on their 20th-year Misery Index is one of the most consistent bands within the musical underground.
Formed in 2001 when leading member Jason Netherton left Dying Fetus, and in creating a heavily hardcore, punk & grindcore influenced death metal he spawned Misery Index.
Now with seven studio albums & the fellow up to 2019’s “Ritual Of Power” can Misery Index keep up their top-notch consistently?
“Administer the Dagger” opens up slowly, surely, lulling you as the band builds to a mighty crescendo. The band are unleashed & the fury spews from Mark Kloeppel’s mouth. The track is punishing & delivers on the promise that the band are continuing the sonic evolution from their last record.
Like always the human drum machine Adam Jarvis’s arms & legs are moving 1000bpm, all with perfectly timed hits but still feeling organic the way Adam is always represented when recording his drums. This opening track is a beast & I can’t wait to see what else the band has in store.
If you set a swarm of wasps on fire then that is what the opening of track two “The Eaters and the Eaten” would be best described.
A swirl of frantic noise is a theme throughout the track but it drives the track in this chaotic way that sets it apart from anything the band have done on the last few albums. A fantastic texture in collection with the vocal pattern Jason Netherton lays on this track is a belter.
Halfway through the album “Conspiracy of None” shows what I think has been the band’s best strength, lead guitarist Darin Morris.
Darin’s addition to the band has helped create some fantastic texturing for the band’s last few albums. Some of his lead work can be simple like on this track but what he does adds another dimension. This song is the standout track on the album.
A catchy chorus hook from both singers Jason & Mark makes this track something special.
Saving the band’s most pissed & aggressive track until last “Now Defied!” shows the band’s grindcore & hardcore in full swing. Only just hitting over the two-minute mark this track isn’t a swan song; it’s a full-on attack on the listener & the best way Misery Index could close the latest chapter in their discography.
“Complete Control” I can happily stay is as strong & might even succeed as the band’s last album “Rituals Of Power” which for me is a tall order as I love that album so dear and cement my opinion that Misery Index is true behemoths that can’t be stopped!
Joseph Mitchell
Complete Control is out via Century Media Records on 13th May 2022
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