Posted on: October 12, 2012 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

 

I was just about ready to discount Spitfire as one of many of the hardcore bands on the scene until the band really got into their own groove. In fact, Spitfire is a furious ac that really takes part in some of the noise that their website alludes to; the scintillating rhythms of the band during tracks like “Dear John” and the spontaneity of their sound really makes the first half of “Self-Help” impressive.

The use of quotes in a track like “Dear John” is not the typical scaling back of the band’s sound while a clip from a zombie movie plays, but really adds to the impact that the song has on a listener. What Spitfire really does for their listeners and for music in general is turn an almost-spoken set of vocals during tracks like “Leap of Faith” into something resembling a work of art. Even when Spitfire moves into the realm of repetition, as is the case during “U.V.I.V.”, the band mixes things up enough to keep individuals interesting. The fact that Spitfire can exist at the nexus of metal, hardcore, and noise should be testament to the skill and maturity of this act. When the band allows their guitars to take on a klaxon sound for “The Great White Noise”, the last thing individuals would expect would be other guitar lines that approximate a nineties, Megadeth-like sound. And that, along with some sludge-metal like vocals towards the middle of the track really encapsulates Spitfire’s innovative nature and should give individuals a reason to pick up this album.

There is the fury of straight forward thrash, a little sludge and grunge, the technical hardcore that has developed in the last few years, and even some theatric metal that comes through on “Self-Help”. Each track on “Self-Help” gives listeners another facet of Spitfire’s sound; this really introduces new listeners to the allure of the band and updates older fans to what Spitfire has been doing since their 2001 breakup. One has to know that most of the Spitfire tracks pack fury into a sub three minute song; to shake the world up in such a short period of time (the whole disc hurdles barely over the thirty minute mark), a band has to know their shit. And know their shit is what Spitfire does the best; these members, majoring in metal, come forth in a strong fashion with “Self-Help”.

Top Tracks: The Suicide Cult Is Dead, Go Ape

Rating: 7.2/10

Spitfire – Self-Help / Goodfellow / 11 Tracks / http://www.spitfirenoise.com / http://www.goodfellowrecords.com /

[JMcQ]

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