Pissing Razors-Pissing Razors (Noise/F.A.D., '98)

Rating: 8/10
Tracks: Dodging Bullets, Tortured, Where We Come From, Permanent, Life Of A Lunatic, World Of Deceit, Disaster, Desperado, Sounds, Season To Die, Silent Hatred, For What ItŐs Worth, Broken Trust

Pissing Razors sounds like an amalgam between Fear Factory and Pantera, but without creating a separate personality. This is a good album, and if you don't compare them to the two aforementioned bands (but you really have to considering how close they sound) then you will find some decent tunes here. They are a brutal band and I give them props for the effort.

The problem with this band is that they do not have the skill of Pantera or the catchiness and brutality of Fear Factory. They are good musicians though, the band is tight and the drummer, Eddy Garcia, is more than competent. Joe Rodriguez takes the vocal duties, and although graduating from the Phil Anselmo school of singing, does a good job of controlling the music.

Pissing Razors' songs all tend to sound the same, the song writing could use a vast improvement. They have good ideas, but they have all been done before, and better. Non of the songs really stand out in this album, perhaps they are going for more of a "feel" type thing to the album, but all I got was bored. I don't want to come off as I am ripping this band or album apart, because I'm not. They are good, just a little boring. I don't really see myself listening to this album much after this. I hope they improve with their next album because they seem to have the right stuff.

All in all not a bad album, their lack of creativity and uniqueness really subtracts from the enjoyment of this album. They have the talent and desire to become great, they just need to put down Demanufacture and start creating their own brand of mayhem the way Machine Head did with The More Things Change... (Even though I really wasn't into The More Things Change, Machine Head did make a conscious effort to try and sound less like Fear Factory, who they were basically a clone of.) Keep trying guys, you'll get it right. - Piston Rod

Tura Satana-Relief Through Release ((Noise/F.A.D., '98)

Rating: 7/10
Tracks: Welcome To Violence, Luna, Dry, Venus Diablo, Unclean, Flux, Eternalux, Storage, Scavenger Hunt, Negative Creep, Relapse, Last Rites, Omnia Vinat Amor

If female hardcore vocalists don't usually grab you, then it's time to invest in a jock strap. Tairrie B. belts out super-charged lyrics in a similar fashion to Karyn Crisis (Crisis) but in a much darker and sensual manner. One great characteristic of this band is their ability to write simple but interesting verses, lyrically and musically, and then just turn around and tear your throat out with the choruses. This is evident in such tracks as "Flux" and "Omnia Vinat Amor". Once you've heard this album through, especially after a song like "Last Rites", it's easy to picture Tairrie gripping the mic with one hand while crushing Gavin Rossdale's throat under her heel and ripping out Jewel's heart with her free hand. Suffice it to say that this album is not for the weak constitutions of the popular music crowd. The multiple vocal trades provide for a vicious, heart-pounding groove and the band couldn't be much heavier. Scott Ueda(guitar), Marcelo Palomino (skins) and Rico Villasenor(bass) provide Tairrie with her happy medium for vocal armageddon.

No band is perfect (Fishbone and Pantera not included), so there are always going to be criticisms. The band wasn't entirely able to avoid those trite "evil girl" lyrics that seem to flourish in those acts that are characterized by female front-runners. For instance, the line "I kiss HER lips and SHE fills me with infection" in the song "Relapse", while certainly erotic, just leaves this listener feeling like she is trying a little too hard to be someone she is not or someone she thinks she has to be. Even though she claims in her spoken word at the end of the album that she knows exactly who she is, there exists an air of uncertainty in some of her other lyrics as well. By the way, the spoken word they foolishly included on the album really makes you want to projectile vomit. I suggest hitting stop as soon as Trade 13 is over or you will be left with a worse aftertaste than any diet soda could ever provide. These minor infractions aside, I strongly suggest adding Relief Through Release to your collection. Not only can Tura Satana hang with any of the big boys, but their songs make for great hymns in Church on Sundays. - Blast Master