Grind legend's final work made available worldwide
Jesse Pintado was certainly a well known figure within the metal community. While he's perhaps most well known for his work with Napalm Death (He made his debut with the band on 1990's Harmony Corruption, and featured on all of the band's album through to 2000's Enemy Of The Music Business), Pintado also made a name for himself through his work with Lock Up and Terrorizer. One particular project that Pintado was involved in, before his untimely passing away (In August 2006), that most wouldn't be aware of is his work with Long Beach (California) based act Resistant Culture.
Founded in the late '80's, Resistant Culture initially started out under the name of Resistant Militia, with a sound that was heavily influenced by both punk and metal, with their self- titled E.P. released in 1987. While still under the name of Resistant Militia, the band released their Living By Law E.P. in 1989, before changing their name to Resistant just prior to the release of their debut album Ancient Future. By 2004, the band had once again changed their name to Resistant Culture, with Pintado joining the established line up of vocalist/flutist Anthony 'Militia' Rezhawk (Terrorizer), guitarist Katina Cuevas, bassist Rafa Gorodetsky (Ex-Universal Congress Of) and drummer Ben Axiom (Axiom) in time for their sophomore effort Welcome To Reality.
Originally released in 2005 on independent label Spiral Records, the long out of print Welcome To Reality has now been officially re-released through SOS Records for fans to once again rediscover. Resistant Culture's overall sound on Welcome To Reality is a difficult one to really pin down. Self described as 'tribal grind-crust punk', Resistant Culture are hardly what you would call your standard metal act. But having said that, Welcome To Reality does manage to work at marrying the bands said influences.
On the grindcore/metallic side of things, the group offer up plenty of brutality on tracks like Hang On To Nothing, The Struggle Continues, Sentient Predator, Forced Conformity and Corruption. With a production that is focussed more on capturing the moment rather than being overproduced, a big heavy noise emanating from the band and Rezhawk's decipherable growls, Resistant Culture certainly put forth a formidable sound that is as brutal.
Leaning a little more towards the band's earlier metallic punk roots are Ecocide, Misery, Obey, Victims, Civilized Aggression, Sticks And Stones and the cover of Discharge's Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing, which again packs a powerful punch, both musically and lyrically. Dotted throughout the album are instrumental tracks featuring native American Indian instrumentation and songs (It's Not Too Late, Elder Wisdom, Unknown Embrace and Land Keeper), which not only break up the album, but add an interesting twist on the standard grindcore fare. Also included on this re-release is the band's Falling Down inspired promotional video clip for Corruption.
Overall, Welcome To Reality is an interesting album, both in the band's ability to combine unlikely influences and the fact that it boasts some of Pintado's final work. And for those reasons alone, I would recommend checking this out.
(Seventh Generation Records/SOS Records/Red Distribution)
