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CONDITION CRITICAL “Degeneration Chamber”
CONDITION CRITICAL “Degeneration Chamber”
By Dr. Abner Mality
In thrash metal, there is much to be said for music that just slaps you silly and gives no fucks. That brings us nicely to CONDITION CRITICAL. This is brutal American thrash from the glory days, right down to the Ed Repka-esque cover art. The band is a great blend of what made SLAYER, NUCLEAR ASSAULT and DEMOLITION HAMMER iconic and they want everybody to know it.
Drop the needle on “Wretched Aggression” and you’re off to the races. This sucker doesn’t let up unti the final seconds of “Excarnation”. This is not MEGADETH or TESTAMENT style thrash with melodic breaks and sensitive moments. Vocalist Ryan Taylor barks out the lyrics like a Schnauzer and sounds pretty much the same on every track with no variation. This is the only kind of music where that can be considered an asset.
This also boasts a great 80’s production that sounds natural and unforced. When CONDITION CRITICAL are not thrashing like madmen, they bring THE CHUG. Heard no better than ‘Postmortal Simulation”, where they CHUG it up in best ANTHRAX style. The album starts intensely but actually picks up aggression as it motors along...later tracks like “Incubation Disposal” and “Cryonic Intestinal Preservation” are right out of the DEMOLITION HAMMER school of absolute mayhem. That means thrash bordering on death metal.
No fancy or funny intros are found here, or silly lyrics about pizza parties and cartoon characters. It all seems to be about science gone mad. I can relate! And although there’s not really an original minute to be found on “Degeneration Chamber”, you don’t need it when you’re busy breaking your neck!
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