Theroies - Regression

*****

Seattle Grind maniacs release a modern classic!

Theories are a band I am new to, I know there has been the odd EP and I know this is their debut full length for Metal Blade, However I’m not sure if this is their debut album. Either way this is the first thing I’ve heard from this band. Theories apparently are a Deathgrind band. I have no idea what that is supposed to mean... Do they do Grindcore with elements of Death Metal?.

Well congrats with the genius who cane up with the term because Napalm Death have been doing that since the 80’s. Anyway what I hear when I listen to 'Regression' is a kick ass Grindcore album. It’s refreshing to hear a great Grindcore album because to these ears at least there hasn’t been one in a while. To most people Grindcore is a meaningless wall of noise and the genre is 99% shit and they are absolutely right! The problem is they forget the 1% that plays the music properly.

When done right Grindcore is amazing and to play it with the precision it deserves takes a special group of musicians with a special kind of chemistry and with chemistry if you get one tiny component wrong the experiment falls apart, just like Grindcore! There is a fine line between a band making a series of short bursts of noise for a minute at a time and becoming a band like Brutal Truth or Nasum and making a masterpiece like Pig Destroyer’s 'Prowler in the Yard'.

Theories have found this balance... they clearly understand the music they are playing and have made an album that mixes all the right ingredients of a classic yet modern Grind album and have put their own stamp on the genre while doing so. Scott Hull handling the production no doubt has helped. He has found that balance between studio shine, and live rawness that so often gets lost today.

Again what the band have done has struck the balance of letting their riffs breath while maintain a catastrophic barrage of sound. What’s great also is the pure emotion displayed by the double vocals of Lee McGlothen and Kush Karimi. A great Grind album plays like an album should with each track bleeding into the next and playing like a live set. I went through a phase where Grind was all I listened to and I burnt myself out on it but this album has totally reinvigorated my interest. I’ve not enjoyed a Grind album this much in years.

Review by Joe Denby

Listen! to the Track 'Cycle to Decay' Below...