Published on Apr 10, 2002
With the state of the Catholic Church right now (and my own
feelings about it, having been raised Catholic), it might seem in
bad taste to review an album named
Crucify The Priest. But, hey,
I didn’t name the album; Chicago-based thrashers Bludgeon
did. If I’m going to hell, it’ll be for much different reasons.
No doubt that the band – vocalist/guitarist Mark Duca, guitarist
Carlos Alvarez, bassist Eric Karol and drummer Matt “Chewey”
Dezynski – will be sharing a fondue skewer next to me. But their
debut disc is an amazing collection of veteran thrash the way it
was meant to be played. Manowar’s Joey DeMaio might have been a
guiding hand for this group as producer, but leave no doubt that
the power and anger you hear is all Bludgeon – and I can’t wait to
hear more.
Three things set Bludgeon apart from so many other groups in
this genre. First and foremost is the solid songwriting that
Bludgeon demonstrate throughout
Crucify The Priest. What you hear is not merely a collective
of instruments and musicians let loose to plow forth at full speed.
No, some actual thought went into the structuring of the songs and
the lyrics – and for that, Bludgeon is worthy of your attention.
Just pay attention to a song like “Zero Tolerance” and experience
this for yourself.
Second, Duca’s grunted vocals are clearer than so many other
thrash bands. Granted, his vocal lines aren’t 100 percent clear,
but more often than not, the listener can tell what Duca is singing
about without having to resort to the lyric sheet. Third, Bludgeon
isn’t afraid to do different things musically, such as suddenly
stop a song, only to pick it up a half-beat later, as they do on
“Smoke Screen”. The effect is a dangerous one for any band to
undertake – hell, the first time I heard the song, I thought my CD
player had screwed up – but when executed well, the power it has is
unbelievable. Such is the case with Bludgeon.
What is even more amazing about
Crucify The Priest is that it sounds like it was recorded in
a state-of-the-art studio… when, in reality, it was recorded at
the house that Bludgeon calls its home base in Chicago. I don’t
quite know how they got such a rich sound (though I’m sure DeMaio’s
production work helped a bit), but it makes me hope their second
effort is recorded in the exact same way.
Tracks such as “Inner Hell,” “Tortured Through Lies,”
“Abandoned” and “Idle Distinction” will undoubtedly cause fans of
thrash to soil themselves with glee, as they discover the next band
who could well be the savior of thrash metal. For Bludgeon’s sake,
I hope they achieve this.
Crucify The Priest might be a first effort, but it proves
that Bludgeon is a band who have done their homework. Here’s hoping
they can live up to the high expectations they’ve just set for
themselves.
2002 Christopher Thelen and “The Daily Vault”. All rights
reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without
written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Magic
Circle Music / Metal Blade Records, and is used for informational
purposes only.