ARTIST: Electric Vengeance + ALBUM: Stories of Greed, Sex, & Murder + LABEL: Independent + RELEASE DATE: SEP 28, 2019
Do you like your metal raw, fast, and full of sordid lyrics? Electric Vengeance’s new EP, Stories of Greed, Sex, and Murder, has got you covered. The Dallas street metal mainstays return with the follow-up to 2017’s Homicidal Relapse LP – and they’re out for blood. The songs across this six song EP have the patented Electric Vengeance sound, but show the band’s growth as songwriters. Indeed, the songs may come across as straightforward on the first couple of listens, but when you pay closer attention you notice more developed song arrangements, back-and-forth tempo changes, and even tighter musicianship.
A thick bassline and a tight, punk drum beat open the first track, “Combo Breaker” – a fast-paced, angsty-as-hell song with a hook-y chorus that’s destined for live sing-along’s and mosh-pit mayhem. This is the Electric Vengeance anthem that will stick in your head all day long. “Slaughter Thy Neighbor” (sung by drummer Trey Lunabomber) is perhaps the only relate-able song in the group. A vicious ode to the worst neighbor ever, Lunabomber sings “You lack empathy, you sad sack of feces.” Doubtless, this is the song you’ll blast at high volume as your next door neighbor stomps around upstairs or let’s their pet crap on your lawn. After all, that’s what the songs about and it’s perfect for such occasions. The band’s tendency toward crossover thrash metal is best heard on the early Suicidal Tendencies sounding “Whorizontal Refreshment” and the tribute to late-1890’s American serial killer H.H. Holmes, “Holmes Made a Killing” (also sung by the Lunabomber). As “Blood Splatter Redecorator” opens with a mid-tempo metal guitar riff and gradually picks up speed, it no sooner drops tempo down a notch with a classic metal-ish electric guitar. Soon enough, the song picks up pace with galloping drums, a weighty bass, and a searing lead. The EP closes with the huge metal riffage of “Angel of Dirt.” Another catchy chorus leads the way at breakneck speed before the song breaks down and comes back together with the chorus at mid-tempo. Another great example of the bands evolution from a hardcore ball-of-fury into a more polished, yet equally crude and rude force of nature.
If you’ve caught the band live, you’re already a fan. Thus, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t grab a copy of Stories of Greed, Sex, and Murder. It’s everything you’ve come to love about the band. If you’re an Electric Vengeance virgin, you’re long overdue for losing your innocence to their seductive sound. This EP is a great place to start your journey down the left-hand path.
– J. Kevin Lynch
The EP release show is tomorrow night (9/28) at Reno’s in Deep Ellum (Facebook Event Page). If you can’t make it tomorrow, you get another chance to catch the band when they play with Chemicaust and The Killer’s Vision for the Silvertonguedevil album release show at Wit’s End (Facebook Event Page). You can learn more about the album in our interview with singer/guitarist Bran Damage.
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