A Thrashing Punk-Rock Release from Birds On A Kill
- BuzzSlayers
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
A thrashing new album release from Birds on a Kill comes in swinging with a massive and sonically driving blend of metal and punk, complete with fierce guitar tones, animated vocals, and a rambunctious underbelly that shows face quite often.
What are the things that really hit hardest about this record, aside from the guitar riffs, of course, is the energy of the entire thing.
There's something about this record that makes you think of a live performance. It's almost like they recorded the whole thing live, all at once, in the same room, and everyone involved was just feeding off of each other's energies the entire time.
Now, I obviously wasn't there, so I'm not sure how they did it, but listening to the record makes you want to go see them perform this whole thing live, in your face, simply because if they can capture this kind of energy and aesthetic on record so well, seeing them live must be a bit of a face-melter.
That's kind of what I would expect from a band like this. I would want my face to be melted.
A lot of the punk rock side of things comes from the attitude and wildness of the sound. The songs can come through pretty short but closed-fisted, and the vocalist really has a great way of bringing a semi-theatrical feel to things.
He really grabs your attention.
The record is called Brace for Impact, and they certainly don't waste much time kicking things off with their first track, "Broken Mirror", which comes in with a crunchy, palm-muted riff, and this sort of echo effect on the vocals, once again bringing back elements of punk.
This track also showcases old school punk lyrics; Minor Threat-style stuff. I really love how he comes through with these sort of introspective, youthful, but slightly angry lyrics.
It's also an awesome song to open the record with because you're getting some of the great staples the rest of the release boasts.
Having said that, this is also an album you should listen to all the way through, in one shot.
One of my favorite tracks on the record has to be the title track, "Brace for Impact", as it displays some great guitar work and double-tracked vocals that come through at times, thickening things up.
I'm certainly also hearing some of the mid to late 90s underground stuff coming through in terms of influences here.
This is also a track that lets you really soak in that bass guitar tone. The bass guitar has this fuzz-tone sort of texture to it, and it really adds a lot of heaviness to some of these tracks.
This song in particular features guitar work that lets you really soak in that bass guitar sound, and it's just completely thriving, gritty, dirty, and packs a bit of a punch.
"Sinking" is one of the songs that also showcases some emotionally backed lyrics that all feel like they come from some authentic place. The words on this record give you a lot to chew on, and almost always come from this personal perspective.
This is the kind of stuff I grew up listening to. I love soaking this record in because it gives me bouts of nostalgia.
These guys pull from a slew of influences and pull them together to create something that most certainly feels classic, but they really managed to capture the emotional aspect along with the tone of the genre, especially from a certain era.
Obviously, plenty of hardcore elements come into play too, but for the most part, punk rock is what overrides the rest.
As I mentioned before, there are definitely inventive guitar riffs that have slightly augmented approaches at times, and those guitars are performed with a heavy hand.
The way the guitars are played contributes to not just the heaviness of the record, but the overall, over-the-top, wild energy of it. You can hear how hard the guitars are being played.
The drummer absolutely rules and doesn't just sit in the pocket for the most part. He has a liveliness to everything, and you can definitely feel how a lot of the rest of the band sort of pushes off of that.
There are bouts of crew vocals here and there, once again beckoning classic '80s and '90s punk rock, and the whole album just destroys from beginning to end.
Part of the reason this album comes through with the tonality that it does is that the whole thing was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Josh Dobbs from the Runnamucks.
So this is obviously someone who understood the mission more than most.
What I would consider to be probably the heaviest track in terms of sound and tone is the closing track, "Desert Mind", which comes in with a bunch of deeper feel.
Some overlapping guitar parts roll in over the single-string deep-toned riff, and this one hits particularly hard.
Don't just take my word for it, dig into this classic but heavy punk rock record and don't be afraid to turn it loud.
Comments