Not quite as the title suggests
It's been almost two years since Society 1 released their last album, Exit Through Fear. In that time, the almost obligatory line-up changes have occurred in the non-stop world of music. The current line-up reads as Matt “The Lord” Zane on vocals, guitarist Sin, and new recruits Dirt on bass and drummer Preston. It is an evil sounding roster huh? The Lord, Sin, Dirt and..... Preston. Oh well, almost.
Since their last effort, Society 1 has released their first DVD (titled Fearing The Exit) and with their non stop touring, several shows front man Zane has made quite the spectacle by suspending himself by meat hooks during the course of the show. It's not for everyone but then again nor is their music.
The cutting riff that opens the album with the track It Isn't Me builds into solid start to the album with it's almost Ministry like sounds and effects. Whilst I didn't think too much of their previous album, this is definitely a good start. It's short and sweet and before you know it, Let Me Live is upon you with its catchy bass line and great vocal melody. It almost makes you wonder why the opening track was the promo clip for the album when this is by far the stronger song.
It's easy to push the Skip button to move passed 6 Months to the crushing yet catchy No Father. It's full of thick riffs and some great vocal melodies courtesy of Zane. The slow and sometimes sludgy pace of the track totally lends itself to the vocal line - another good track. There's quite the variety of pace, melody and intensity present throughout the album. Some tracks work (such as the aforementioned No Father), others don't such as Touch A Girl. Realms Of Bliss shows somewhat of a different side of the band with it's moody vibe, which is again revisited a couple of tracks later with I Love Her. For something that's not a live album, it's interesting to here a guitar solo on here (the Eddie Van Halen-esque track Enraptured), which kinda gives the album a live feeling for a brief 86 seconds before it closes with the much-more-inline tracks Skies and Wounded Veins.
Overall, it's not a bad album. For all the shock value in the world that Society 1 can muster up musically, lyrically or visually, it's more of a hit and the occasional miss album. Whilst there are a couple of skippers on here, there are some definite highs as well. It's not top shelf on the originality stakes either. If you've heard Static-X or Jerk and they really aren't your thing, then this won't be either. However if you're a big fan of those bands and others in that style, then you'd be mad not to check this out.
(Earache/Shock)
