Wednesday 2 August 2017

Municipal Waste "Slime And Punishment" (2017)


Its the sixth release from legendary east coast outfit Municipal Waste. Formerly viewed as "revival crossover" their sixteen year tenure has established them as one of Crossovers best. Last time I checked in with them was back in 2007 where they were riding a wave of hype that produced wild festival shows with fans literally bringing surf boards to crowd surf at the bands command. It was quite the memorable show but since then I never stayed tuned in with the band, after five years of silence it seemed like a good time to give them another whirl and see if their upto the same old tricks.

"Slime And Punishment" is a fast and fun, thrashy blast of party hard, headbanging aggression that's not to be taken seriously. They have hardly evolved in ten years and the addition of a second guitarist doesn't seem to have given their sound any new edge. There are not many parts of this record that utilize two tracks, beyond a backing track for a guitar solo its mostly unable to break away from linear guitar work. Just another riff fest of crossover that brings far more thrash in the guitar work with all the classic chugging rhythms and grooves, power chord shredding rearranged to create another set of mosh friendly tracks for the energetic live show.

Tony Foresta's strained shouts bring the hardcore edge with a constant barrage of gang vocals chiming in along side him. "Parole Violators" presents a missed opportunity as a breakdown riff leads into some comical role play between a corrupt sleazy cop and skate punk, painting a hilarious image of an oldskool corrupted authoritarian attitude, the sort you'd see in movies reflecting times gone by. This album would of have a real wild card up its sleeve with more of that comical edge. Unfortunately its just another rapid riff fest of head bobbing fun, composed, performed and produced with a routine level of excellence from experienced metalheads that lacked a spark to really get me into it. Solid album but didn't offer anything I haven't heard done before.

Rating: 5/10