Suicidal Tendencies
World Gone Mad

Today I dive into a world gone mad.

"World Gone Mad" is the thirteenth album (twelfth studio album) by a band I've listened to sporadically in my life (Robert Trujillo and Thundercat era, to be clear) and, mea culpa, I don't really know how the first four albums by the Venice band sounded, up until 1990, but I'll eventually fill this gap.

The band of "Cyco Miko" returns, which is, vocally speaking, definitely in shape, despite the now 55 Earth revolutions, and my return to listening to them is mainly linked to the curiosity for the entry into the band of Dave Lombardo, historical drummer of "Slayer" (ça va sans dire).

In addition to Lombardo, the new members of the group are two of my "unknowns," namely the Chilean Ra Diaz (bass - Drogatones, Tiro De Gracia, and Ritmo Machine) and the 25-year-old Jeff Pogan (rhythm guitar - Oneironaut) who join Mike Muir (vocals) and Dean Pleasants (lead guitar).

Entry tribute with "Clap Like Ozzy" to the legend Ozzy Osbourne, a relentless bomb for over 4 minutes, with two minutes of punk, interspersed with a few seconds of funky bass and backed by the remarkable drumming of Lombardo to emphasize the usual heavy metal cheekiness of Pleasants' guitar. Good start!

Double pedal and trash metal full throttle for the second track "The New Degeneration," another 360 seconds all out.

It moves to an environment apparently like "Depeche Mode," with paced toms by a truly tasty Lombardo for the first minute, then at the scream "Living for Life" (title of the song) hell breaks loose, and there’s hardcore with enviable mosh possibilities in a live show! The outro has the same dynamics as the intro.

Muir quickly changes his chords, going from the vocal softness of the sung "...we're here tonight," to embody Sonny Sandoval or Zack De La Rocha in the immediate response, citing the title of the fourth track "...so get your fight on!" It continues with an alternative-rap metal on the track that gives the album its title ("World Gone Mad"), with very engaging fills by Lombardo between vocal interludes, some occasional funky moments, but generally, it’s not a track that convinces me much.

"Happy Never After" is pompous and too long for my personal taste, while I find myself more aligned with the metal taste in "One Finger Salute," with a guitar-Pleasants solo tending towards the prodigious, "Damage Control," probably the track that pulsates my temples the most, and "The Struggle is Real," which is consistently a fast-track.

Unexpected finale with "Still Dying to Live" (which starts in a paced manner and transforms into violent rock’n’roll) and "This World," an almost decadent closure with a Muir who no longer screams, Pogan’s guitar is perpetually choked, and the rhythm section strikes more with pride than with speed and hardness, a grunge contamination that reminded me a bit of “Stone Temple Pilots” or something from “Porno for Pyros,” something I had never heard (nor did I think I’d ever listen to) in my listens with a suicidal tendency. Not a negative page, but it left me a bit perplexed.

Without a doubt, a well-played album (a great "acquisition" that of Lombardo, although I assume there were few doubts, while on bass, the albeit-brilliant Diaz makes me miss Trujillo and Bruner a bit), on which I had set quite a few expectations and let’s say I was globally satisfied with the final product, although I didn’t come out ecstatic from the listen. My ear is more accustomed to the "Infectious Grooves" part than to that, I suppose, of the early S.T. and this album, I imagine, may be in some respects a return to the origins of the band that now boasts 35 years of career!

I hope I didn't offend the long-time fans of the band and interested those who maybe never bothered with them.