Seeing that screaming at the top of your lungs can garner a payable musicianship, then perhaps "End Times" is an appropriate title. Although, I hope more that the end of screaming undecipherable words against a wall of guitars and distortion is what is ushered in. With 12 tracks Goodfellow Records offers up a strangely expansive variety of death metal and screaming music.



Groups like Spitfire and The Abominable Iron Sloth go straight for the throat and erect fortresses of metal music and accent that with screaming from the very gut of their existence. I find that the sound created isn't from the bottom of their souls though, it's from the very base and superficial surface of their anger. The music is chaotic yet remains within a 4/4 signature; perhaps these cats should check out Stravinsky to know what real chaos sounds like.



Groups like The Smackdown give a strangely anthemic and pop-like metal dosage to the compilation with "Taking Over Primetime". In this sense the music is more to incite some kind of reaction for change rather than to incite a riot, and it fares a little better. It's not the pop sound that does it, it's not that they sound more cheery and happy; they just know that if if they want to reach people they need to make their music accessible. Other more harmonious contributions are given by The Spirit That Guides Us with "All The Way to the USA" which are more of a tribute to a Metalhead's road trip rather than a call to arms. Either way, these songs seem to allow the listener into the music.



I don't really know the meaning of hardcore metal music or the 'Headbanger' ideal, but it obviously reaches to many people who are overrun by angry thoughts and would rather purge them through music than through violence, and for this I applaud them. There is often something very innocent about the music, as though they are just very very misunderstood; and because of this there is something to be found deep within the dark recesses of End Times that might speak to anyone; given they want to look for it.



Track Listing

1 Spitfire

2 Spitfire

3 The Abominable Iron Sloth

4 Intronaut

5 The Handshake Murders

6 The Smackdown

7 The Spirit That Guides Us

8 The Secret

9 Taken

10 Cursed

11 Blessing The Hogs

12 Passion