Crisis
Deathshead Extermination

The Crisis, these unknowns. That's exactly what comes to mind when browsing the Internet, which apart from a few reviews of their latest albums and the usual comments (not even many, to be truthful) posted in forums and fan-sites, does not offer exhaustive information on the New York band. More: it is appropriate to say that Crisis have not yet achieved the deserved success (or they started obtaining it late), despite more than ten years of career behind them and wide critical acclaim, perhaps because they are considered too abrasive by those who love alternative sounds or, worse, too little "orthodox" by those who instead are enthusiasts of more extreme sounds. But as we know, many worthy things, to paraphrase that philosopher, remain hidden. Or, at least, underground.

Crisis formed in the early '90s in New York around the charismatic figure of Karyn Crisis, a talented metal singer and visionary artist (she is the one who curates the disturbing artwork for the various albums - some of her drawings have recently been put up for auction on eBay). Completing the original line-up is an Afghan guitarist, Afzaal Nasiruddeen, a Korean bassist, Gia Chuan Wang, and an American drummer, Fred Waring. The purpose of this multi-ethnic band is to create "something unique and different from the other bands" (Karyn at hmp.it): the result is a poisonous, original, and ahead of its time mix of various heavy genres. The band debuted in '94 with Crisis; in '96 they released their second album, Deathshead Extermination (produced by Steve McCallister and Nasiruddeen, released by Metal Blade), the album I am now reviewing. We were talking about a mix of various heavy genres. The death influence, particularly evident in the one-two punch of "Bloodlines"-"Nowhere But Lost", is certainly not the only one present in Deathshead Extermination (and in Crisis' sound in general): Nasiruddeen's rhythmic riffs, violent and immediate but quite distant from thrash coordinates, refer to both noise-rock and certain hardcore: a dry yet never monotonous riffing. Here and there, the guitarist's industrial-noise reminiscences emerge (having played with Waring in the industrial group Stalwart), for instance in the excellent "Working Out The Graves", which along with "Different Ways Of Decay" is one of the tracks that remain etched in your mind from the first listens. Melodic openings are not lacking ("The Watcher", "Methodology"), while true solos are completely absent. The drums mostly play on martial half-times, sometimes almost tribal (as in the verses of "2 Minutes Hate"), managing to create, supported by the bass arpeggios, a hypnotic groove: you almost get the impression that the rhythm section seeks to "daze" the listener to leave them defenseless in front of the guitar's violence. But the true added value is Karyn Crisis's performance, showcasing impressive versatility: from screaming to spoken word, from clean singing to growl, an angry and psychotic vocal dissociation that generates a powerful emotional impact. It is not an exaggeration to say, in a "historical" observation, that the vocalist of Crisis, on par with names like Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory) and Jonathan Davis (Korn), anticipated that split and eclectic way of singing that is now one of the typifying traits of alternative and "nu" metal - though few, indeed, reach Karyn's ferocity. Also notable are the singer's lyrics, pervaded with a radical antagonism towards the current societal degradation, as the best punk-core practice wants, and filled with hallucinated visions of the near future's decay.

In conclusion, as you might have guessed, Deathshead Extermination is an album of remarkable personality and rich with interesting solutions, a veritable bolt from the blue in the extreme scene of the mid-nineties - and beyond. If you're not familiar with Crisis, at least get this album, which to this day is probably their masterpiece. This will also allow you to sense how unjust their status as "unknowns" is - at least compared to certain best-sellers in the alternative area for whom the New York melting pot was undoubtedly an important influence, indeed: "not only have we been an influence for many bands - says Karyn - but in some cases we have also been robbed." If you're looking for something "apocalyptic" and unconventional, Deathshead Extermination is for you.