Balaclava-
Crimes of Faith LP review
This album is nowhere near what I
thought it would be when I first picked it up- for some reason, I thought it
would be along the lines of fast hardcore anarcho punk or a crustier version of
Hirax. Most definitely not so-
Balaclava, who is from Richmond, Virginia, is a different kind of band, one
much more along the lines of His Hero is Gone and what would amount to
crust-influenced doom metal.
Crimes of Faith is an epic, seven
song destroyer of an LP that focuses more on the crushing heaviness than
anything else. At least half of every
song is instrumental and slowly chugs along, each note another punishing blow
to the ears (in a positive way), further driving intoxicating negativity into
one’s brain. The other half (or less) of
the songs is reminiscent of hardcore in the vein of heavier acts like Tragedy,
Bullshit Tradition, and a sped-up version of Axegrinder. There is just as much guitar work as there is
bass and drum work in the instrumental portions, each one taking turns as the
lead instrument while the others serve as rhythm instruments. A very menacing beast this is; this record
rules.
Toss away any preconceived ideas of
what this album sounds like- chances are, they’re wrong. Balaclava is an omnipresent insurgency that
will crush you to dust with their riffs and beat you to death with their
punishing beats!
-Aunty Social
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