Karyn Crisis - vocals

Afzaal Nasiruddeen - guitar

Gia Chuan Wang - bass

Jwyanza  Hobson - guitar

Josh Florian - drums

CRISIS: "Like Sheep led to Slaughter"           crisis           

review by Sara "Shadow Lady" De Vita____     

Ingenious ideas by one interesting band and Propositiva. Like Sheep Led To Slaughter is a prodigious work which leaves without breath

“Omen” is a spoken intro bringing, with the quietness of a firm and calm voice, the sound blast of “Waking The Dead”: crazed tempo changes for a spasmodic and violent rhythm!

The guitars closely recall Death’ style in a crescendo leading to stout riffs parted by scratching slides.

“A Graveyard For Bitches” is a more cadenced song, even though the voice is a machine-gun of stunning, incisive growl! Spoken intermissions let us breathe again before we fall again in a rhythmic apnea vaguely hinting to Metallica. Decidedly negative the choice of inserting, even though simply as a vocal cadence, some moans.

A sitar sound introduces “Nomad”: a splendid song of stoner school testing itself in completely different sonorities respect to the beginning of Like Sheep Led To Slaughter .

And the voice of is moving, appearing in an extremely aggressive environment, proposing some instants of clean voice coupled to a growl that sometimes becomes scream. Yet another change of scene for the Crisis and we are in ”Politics Of Domination”, a pseudo-crossover, always open window, facing a garden in which innovative ideas both for rhythms and guitars are flourishing.

Higher and higher, even more aggressive, never trivial… here comes “Blood Burden”: a concentration of Death-Thrash that only a historic band as Crisis could have created. Pure genius the guitar riffs springing and bouncing on a frenzy and unstoppable double drum.

“Rats In A Maze” and “Secrets Of The Prison House”, even though separate, seem actually to be a single song!

“Rats In A Maze”starts: a female choir almost folk-gothic, extending to “Secrets Of The Prison House”, remembering Paradise Lost of Icon and Draconian Times sonorities! …and with these two songs Crisis face a very well refined Death-Gothic too!

The bass and guitar harmonizations clearly remember “Ends Of Reason” by Paradise Lost or, more in general, all the harmonic settings by Death and by the very first My Dying Bride.

Slivers of geniality and perfection for a never trivial album trying its hand in stylistical solution very courageous and quite well done. In “Corpus Apocalypse” another style change: we go from an almost black voice, with raw guitars lacking cured sounds, almost underground (like from a rehearsal room), enriching the cd of a musical concept set more on the ideas than on the technique and cleaness.

“Study In Cancer”, oriental-style rhythms, develops itself into a speed death forgetting the delicate contributions a la Tool and System Of A Down, to scratch the walls of our tympani with the sharp blades of fierce sound leaps.

Stunned by this musical assault we get to “Exit Catacomb”, a song with decadent and heavy sounds… it looks almost like we are walking on a layer of mud slowing down our steps, while the vocal lines gives determination to a song that otherwise would be too doom-oriented. Oriental sounds are back with “The Fate”, instrumental song that allows to rest our senses overcharged by a well aimed and fierce aggressiveness.

With this song ends a CD truly interesting, encompassing several genres yet never annoying or losing in quality.

rating: 8.5/10

Sara De Vita  

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