Corrupt Moral Altar - Mechanical Tides | Review

Corrupt Moral Altar first full-length effort “Mechanical Tides” sees the British four-piece distancing themselves from the more frantic, grind-influenced direction of their previous EP “Whiskey Sierra” to favour a more catchy, sludgy groove that surprisingly makes the whole release sound a bit more fresh and captivating.

Anyway, if it was the chaotic and grindy nature of “Whiskey Sierra” that first lured you towards Corrupt Moral Altar then, there are strong chances that you’ll be slightly disappointed with this new release. Not saying that they have gone all soft and sweet on us nope, they still sound pissed-off and angry, but instead of trying to rip your head from the torso they sound more controlled and tempered and just want to give you let’s say, a serious spanking. Nothing fatal.

They kick things off with “Father Tongue”, a relentless and heavy tune that pretty much follows-up the formula explored on their previous work, but from there on the material ranges from an aggressive, straightforward hardcore punch to a partially abrasive, partially bluesy sludge and some post-rock atmospherics. Second track “Blood Harmony” shows the band motivated to utilize a few nuances that we don’t often hear on a sludge/grind release, like some introspective post-metal melodies. Same for “Admit Defeat”, a trippy, melancholic tune that features the melodic singing of Mitch Harris from Napalm Death.

There's a touch of everything to be found in here, yet surprisingly there's a compelling coherence to all this disparate convergence of sounds. Solid stuff from a promising band that reveals a total disregard for rules or conventions!

Band info: www.facebook.com/CorruptMoralAltar
Label info: www.season-of-mist.com