NAILS – “Every Bridge Burning” album review

The fourth full-length release from California grinders Nails is ready to rip your ears off…

Trust me – that heading is true right from the word go! As described by frontman Todd Jones “When you push play, you’re going to get smacked in the face!” And he is not joking, as the opening track Imposing Will viciously assaults your cranium fins for 30 seconds before hitting a groove that will get your head banging!

Now where there is grind, you get the good, the daft, and the downright bloody awful. Nails sit higher in the echelons than good, in the space occupied by Terrorizer, Insect Warfare, Napalm Death, and Nasum. And they aim to solidify that slot with this album. Punishment Map, feels like you are being sonically whipped and beaten simultaneously. It’s fierce, abrasive, and violent – how the best grind should be. The title track next continues the full-on assault on your lugholes. Slightly slower with an old-school d-beat groove that sets you up very nicely for my favourite track of the ten we have herein.

Give Me the Painkiller is like riding a Suzuki Hyabusa at 200 mph with a full squadron of A-10s chasing you down and strafing the ground around you. The intricate riff is melodic and sharp over lightspeed double kicks and the snarled vocal delivery. Fantastic. Please do as I did and press repeat several times for this one track!

True to established grindcore ethics, all the tracks have so far been short sharp shocks to the sense of hearing, and there is no let-up as the band smashes into Lacking The Ability To Process Empathy. Just over two minutes of savage riffs and stank-face-eliciting groove that though marginally slower than its predecessors, still kicks serious arse. Some cracking drum fills and grooves in this one. Now if you thought Give Me The Painkiller was fast, then buckle up your harnesses, and grip tightly to the arms of your chair, as you are then Trapped for 38 seconds in an absolute meatgrinder of a track!

At this point, I’ll stop, take a little breather and elaborate on the musicianship here. The uneducated, will likely hear Grind and consider it noise played by people with no talent, who cover that up with speed and aggression. Well, these guys certainly know how to play. The guitar work is brilliant, from the brutal riffing to the occasional, but very welcome and melodic solos. The drums are powerful and sound organic, rather than triggered or computer-generated drums of lesser bands. Todd Jones’ vocals are pure spite and are still enunciated perfectly. And the overall production by Kurt Ballou (of Converge fame) is perfect.

On with the music, and more of the skin off your face being peeled away by Made Up In Your Mind, that segues straight into Dehumanized keeping up the unrelenting rhythmic barrage, before slipping into yet another cracking groove. This continues into the aptly named I Can’t Turn It Off, as I guarantee will be the case once we hit the final track No More Rivers To Cross

Starting with a slow doomy riff that could come from Autopsy or Asphyx, this final blast is also the longest at over 3 minutes (WOT?! A grind song over 3 minutes?!), yes it is, but it does not feel like it as your listening flaps and head are pummeled into your neck leaving you feeling like an agoraphobic tortoise that’ has been used as a rugby ball….

Final thoughts…

I do love good grindcore, and this is a showcase for the genre. With all the elements present throughout Every Bridge Burning, this could easily garner Nails a good number of new fans. Play this alongside Terrorizer’s “World Downfall” – usually regarded as possibly the best grind album – and you will be hard-pressed to decide which is the better of the two!

Nails has issued a massive statement of intent and attitude with this release, pushing the boundaries of extremity and accessibility within its short duration. For me, it is definitely one of my albums of the year!

The album is released on 30th August on all physical formats

Nails (L-R) Andrew Solis (bass), Shelby Lermo (guitars), Todd Jones (vocals, guitars), Carlos Cruz (drums)

Track Listing

01 – Imposing Will (1:22)

02 – Punishment Map (1:03)

03 – Every Bridge Burning (1:58)

04 – Give Me The Painkiller (2:45)

05 – Lacking The Ability To Process Empathy (2:03)

06 – Trapped (0:38)

07 – Made Up In Your Mind (1:04)

08 – Dehumanized (1:20)

09 – I Can’t Turn It Off (2:20)

10 – No More Rivers To Cross (3:14)

Links

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nailstyranny/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nailstyranny