Today Is The Day
Axis Of Eden

The latest work delivered by the creation of "reverend" Steve Austin, now a true "guru" in the U.S. hardcore-metal scene, also seen in his work as a producer and talent discoverer (including, over time, Converge, Lamb Of God, and even our own The Orange Man Theory) thanks to his recording studio ("Austin Enterprise"), and now also his new label Supernova Records, named after the first album by Today Is The Day. It's with this label that he releases the superlative "Axis Of Eden" in 2007, three years after the previous "Kiss The Pig." The line-up perhaps returns to the best TITD configuration, which includes Steve Austin on guitar and vocals, Chris Debari on bass, and Dereck Roddy on drums.

The evolution of the Nashville band is quite unique: for those who have listened to all the albums, it's significant that over time, their musical extremism has grown exponentially, reaching today a grindhardcore that is as crude and intense as ever. While the feeling of malaise and discomfort in their lyrics has always existed from the start, it is only in the latest phase that the brutality, that "terror metal"—as Austin loves to define his music—has come to the forefront. Already with "In The Eyes Of God," you could see a first change in this direction, even "Sadness Will Prevail," in its experimentation, sounded much more extreme than previous albums; but it's especially with "Kiss The Pig" and this latest one that the sound of TITD has radically changed. Don't get me wrong: the guiding line that has led the band from the very beginning is always the same, namely a mix of hatred, bitterness, alienation, anger, unease, sadness. Their sounds, however, have evolved and progressed: from the initial noise metal with math hints, to a more experimental period in which they explored new paths characterized by the use of electronics (Temple Of The Morning Star), up to the current phase where grindcore is the main aspect of their sound.

Regarding the tracks, the opening "I.E.D." is simply a true masterpiece, a machine gun of power and anger highlighted mainly by Roddy's double pedal and Austin's guitar; the same goes for "Broken Promises And Dead Dreams", personally the best track on the album; we have a bit of death metal in "If You Want Peace Prepare For War" (the first part of the song, while the second part is a "new age" piece where Austin only engages in singing), and in "Axis Of Eden", while "The Worst That Ever Happened To Me" seems to be a strange and disturbing form of lament. We are, in short, facing a work executed without compromises, as in the best tradition of TITD, and above all, we are facing a work of strong sound impact.

An excellent record, certainly one of the best by TITD, at least for those, like me, who love them more in the current phase, which is the phase of greater power and anger, in a word, of greater extremism.