Anthrax
State Of Euphoria

After the Bermuda Triangle, comma the cell phone star, and why Italian law does not foresee the principle of "just cause" in case I kill with bites the guy who cuts in line for pizza by the slice, here's yet another mystery in human history: "State Of Euphoria". After years and years of deep reflections on why I'm the only euphoric fool, and the album is instead treated by the rest of the world as a huge flop, today I've finally come to a definitive conclusion: I hope this useless planet explodes in a little cloud of boom.

For those who don't know, the album in question has always been labeled as a remarkable misstep, and by the same fans who consider "Among The Living" the best work ever produced by the band. Truly incredible, given the many similarities between the two and the replay of those experiments, even if less funny, that characterized the bulky predecessor two years earlier.
The five perhaps have the grave fault, besides grossly overestimating the average anthrax-fan's brain, of not wanting to repeat themselves completely: they further compact the rhythms, streamline the songs a bit, but without making them less intricate, quite the contrary. Some say this is the most introspective and twilight album in their discography, and in part, this is true: if some compositions are indeed much more reflective, meditated compared to the past, on the other hand, there are certainly more direct episodes, following the trail of that frantic hardcore-thrash that made them famous.
But damn, if this variety of intent and musical proposal is to be considered a flaw... The problem is more than anything else that damn black hole housed in your skull, I would say.

The leading riffs of "Out of sight, out of mind" and the final "Finale" (never was a title more apt, probably) are absolutely exhilarating, an unstoppable train in motion. Less elaborate and furious is the opener "Be all, end all", a track that stands out for its refinement in melodies and the unusual string intro. The experiments (especially vocal) in "Make me laugh" are very interesting, a piece that needs slow assimilation to be fully appreciated. Pure, sculptural techno-thrash in the over seven minutes of the central "Who cares wins", another memorable episode that no one ever pays attention to.
Far more famous is "Antisocial", a light and enjoyable rhythmic ditty; after all, it's a cover of Trust, a French hard rock group. Nothing to tear one's underwear over but cute, nonetheless.

The rest of the album (that is, the remaining "Schism", "Now it's dark" and "Misery loves company", given that "13" is a short instrumental, 1 minute or a bit less) stands on excellent levels, pointless to look for flaws; there simply aren't any. So, for God's sake: avoid believing the nonsense of those who turn up their noses if their idols, for once, do not show up with their usual jolly demeanor (read: Italian-American), because to not notice the excellent quality of SOE you have to be deaf. In this case, one would also hope for muteness, but unfortunately, God is notoriously an irrepressible, mischievous joker.

Perhaps a tad less brilliant than ATL, no doubt, but ... whatever. A tad.