SSS

By Júlio Valada on Jun 6, 2011 in Cd Review | 0 comments

Album: Problems To The Answer
Label: Earache Records
Tracks: 25
Release Date: June 6th
Lenght: 43′ 26″

Riff Score: 7.5/10

SSS is short for Short Sharp Shock (don’t mind the redundancy), a band from Liverpool that was formed in 2005. Unlike the more noticeable bands of that area, SSS are a very aggressive crossover thrash metal band that has one purpose, thrash your heads!

The album kicks off with “The Kill Floor” and the thrashing madness begins immediately in a hardcore-crossed Sodom style. I don’t know why but the vocalist just reminds me of Tom Angelripper on the Better Off Dead album, but way more pissed off! Come again imagine Demolition Hammer with Sodom’s vocals and a lot of hardcore influences. That description alone is enough to make every thrash fan salivate instantly and check out this album. Anyway blink and you’ll miss a bit as most tracks here are pretty fast and short, with only seven tracks out of twenty-five being over the two minute mark. There are a couple of longer tracks but we’ll get into that in a bit.

As of now “Foreign Body Plot” blasts through the speakers is good hardcore/punk fashion screaming out any given political cause at the sound of some great D-beat infused thrash. Oh yeah this song rules and it’s clearly a highlight here. Comparisons have been made between SSS and DRI (what’s up with crossover bands and acronyms?!) and they certainly deserve them as the punkish style of the latest is very much present here. SSS aren’t as humorous but they compensate with an added aggressiveness that goes far beyond anything DRI has made in the past. There isn’t much bullshit talk, this album is up and running and it loses no time in blasting away your head with songs like the little “Birdshit” and “Direct Action” providing for some near grind experiences. It takes twelve tracks for the album to slow down a bit with “Man Against Man”, which lets you regain your breath before everything blows away again.

By this point in time you’ve already noticed the ever-present bass sound, something that I really like about this album. The bass is always upfront, resembling Mr. Lilker from all those known bands. In fact this could sound like another one of his pet projects, be it Nuclear Assault or SOD, given that there are so many resemblances to them. I’ve named a big share of great thrash bands that seem to have influenced these UK guys but I feel the need to name one more, and that one is Anthrax. It’s hard not to notice some influences of the American band, even more when you listen to “Rats Nest” or “Cathode Control” at the middle of the album. Really metal thrashing mad! Anyway a bunch of shorter bursts of hardcorish tracks bring us to the first long track of the album, “Future Primitive”, and if you weren’t paying attention you’d say that this is the closing track of the album as it immediately stands out with its mid-tempo and totally laid back riffing style. A four minute instrumental that features some cool riffs and great drumming that lets you bang your head in delirium as the album nears its end.

Or at least that’s what you thought right? It’s strange that the album doesn’t end there because it would sound just perfectly short and pretty sweet. But then “Trapped Inside Two States Of Mind” kicks the door and brings back the madness with its brutal thrash pace and you’re sucked into SSS’ world again. More of the same of what we’ve been listening, except these tracks near the end seem more interested in well constructed thrash beats than the earlier tracks. The pace is more mid-tempo to full-on and this part of the album sounds a bit off from the rest. All tracks are over one minute long and they all have some catchy rhythms to go along but it does sound a bit overkill when the album was pretty good with just eighteen tracks. It’s pretty strange to say this but the album would actually sound better without these extra seven tracks. With that being said these seven tracks could’ve easily been material for a pre/post-album EP, and that would be a killer one as these tracks are of good quality. The album ends with an eight minute instrumental, much in the same vein as “Future Primitive” but longer. Twenty five tracks seems like too much as this album had material for two different releases.

The production here is awesome, with the bass being ever present as I’ve said before, but also the mixing is very good with guitar, bass, drums and vocals all present without any of them overpowering the others. All instruments are heard crystal clear but the album is still able to convey a raw and aggressive, 80’s thrash/hardcore/punk feel throughout it. Pretty killer production I must say, and I just wish that some of the newer retro-thrash bands would adopt this type of production instead of the more modern one. This is the way thrash should always sound, aggressive and raw!

So to sum it up this is a pretty good album, from a band I hadn’t heard before but managed to convince me that they’re up to the task of thrashing the world with their songs. It’s a good effort from a young band that’s decided on honouring their influences and just loves to play old school 80’s style crossover thrash. And this is the real deal, with equal parts of hardcore/punk and thrash mixed in to form an explosive assault on the senses. Again it’s too bad that they didn’t end the album after “Future Primitive” because that would make the rating go a bit higher as it becomes a bit overlong. But it’s still a good album and one noteworthy of your attention if you happen to like thrash with a DIY attitude. Thrash on!

By: Júlio Valada