Posted on: July 5, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

How often do you meet a band that ties together brilliant songwriting, flawless technique, mad intensity and a thought-provoking lyrical content to boost? When it comes to extreme metal, it’s really difficult to find the complete package. Maybe that’s why “Retaliate” by Misery Index is such an important album. It shows that the impossible is sometimes just a head bang away….

Misery Index isn’t your average death metal or grindcore band. This is violent music driven to the edge of perfection. To put it simple – these guys deliver all the goods and more. It all started back in 2001, when three members of the death/grind legend Dying Fetus – Jason Netherton (bass, vocals), Sparky Voyles (guitar) and Bruce Greig (guitar) – left their original band and along with drummer Matt Byers formed Misery Index – a group that was never planned to exist in the first place. In time, the Baltimore-based project developed into a regular band, getting stronger with every month. Misery Index released their debut EP “Overcome” in 2001. In 2003 the band started working on the material for their first full-length album. Finally, on August 23rd, Misery Index released their official debut LP – “Retaliate” – on Nuclear Blast Records. Introducing 10 tracks of pure devastation, it quickly became one of the most intense and extreme metal albums of the year. Inspired by diehard metal heroes such as Napalm Death, Carcass, Suffocation, Cephalic Carnage, Obituary, Extreme Noise Terror and even the black-metal influences of Mayhem and Emperor, Misery Index brilliantly combined death metal heaviness with grindcore intensity, delivering one of the finest mixtures in the history of extreme music. With crushing guitar work, insane drumming and harsh, straight-forward vocals, this album was easily an “all killer, no filler” offering – strong, uncompromising and merciless. But Misery Index is not just about sound terrorism. Although the music comes first, lyrics are a close second. The lyrical content on “Retaliate” is one of the strongest points of the entire release, focusing on mature topics ranging from war to politics, the government and social issues. “Retaliate” turned out to be a great success for the band, with enthusiastic reviews in the press and warm reception on the metal scene. “Retaliate” remains their violent wake-up call, an intense manifest for both extreme music and political awareness. With such brilliant tracks as “The Great Depression” and “History is Rotten”, it also stands alone as a masterpiece of brutal death/grind metal, mixing the best elements of extreme genres in truly epic proportions.

Metal Mind Productions will re-issue “Retaliate” on 27th July in Europe and 8th August in USA (via MVD). New digipak edition is limited to 1000 copies.

Misery Index
“Retaliate”

Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1295 DG
Barcode: 5907785035089
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 1000 numbered copies)
Genre: death/grind metal
Release date: 27.07.2009 Europe / 08.09.2009 USA

Tracklist:

1. Retaliate
2. The Lies That Bind
3. The Great Depression
4. Angst Isst Die Seele Auf
5. Demand The Impossible
6. Order Upheld /Dissent Dissolved
7. Servants of Progress
8. The Unbridgeable Chasm
9. Bottom Feeders
10. History is Rotten
11. Birth of Ignorance

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