Band:	Earth Crisis
Album:	Destroy The Machines
Style:	Hardcore, Metalcore
Release date:	May 1995

01. Forced March
02. Born From Pain
03. Destroy The Machines
04. New Ethic
05. The Discipline
06. Deliverance
07. Inherit The Wasteland
08. Asphyxiate
09. The Wrath Of Sanity
10. Fortress

Throw the hardcore leanings of Hatebreed, and the lyrical themes of Cattle Decapitation and Gojira into a blender, and what you have is Earth Crisis. These are just three bands who owe a large debt to Earth Crisis who, with albums like Destroy The Machines, would have a seismic impact on modern metal.

Is Destory The Machines so buried underneath accolades that you lose sight of how good it is? Fortunately, not, Earth Crisis have created an album of such enduring quality that the hype is justified. Though it does not have the same influence as Firestorm, Destroy The Machines is its equal in terms of quality.

With mid-paced stompers like "New Ethic" through groove-laden tracks like "Deliverance" and tempo-switchers such as "Fortress", Earth Crisis would weave a thread of high-quality hardcore-based metalcore that could level buildings. All of the ten tracks are as impressive as the others, with each song equally deserving of attention.

The guitar work of Crouse and Wiechmann is what gives much of the songs their appeal, infusing each track with rough and ready hardcore-derived riffage but filtered through metalcore. Buechner's coarse war cries permeate each track with a sense of urgency and weight that turns each song into a heavy-as-hell metal classic. Merrick's drum work creates a shifting foundation from which the band bounce off like a solid wall; Merrick's changing between supporting to leading role in tracks like "Inherit The Wasteland" keeps you on your toes and alert throughout. Edwards' bass work fits perfectly; just on the edge of the guitars, he injects the songs with a sense of groove.

The production work gives the songs the perfect dark and gritty feel without having to sacrifice audio clarity in order to achieve it. The stripped-down production adds to the viciousness of the riffs, with the jagged raw sound of the guitars benefitting the most, sounding as if the minimal barrier is created between player and listener.

If you want an album to hold in one hand while waving your middle finger in the other, then Destroy The Machines is the ideal candidate. If you thought veganism or animal rights were relatively new concepts in metal, then you would be off by twenty-five years. Each song is steeped in such anger and injustice that it makes Rage Against The Machine sound tame. With the clarion calls of the title track through to introspective chest-beaters like "Born From Pain", you will find as much weight in the lyrics as there is in the music.

For vegans and carnivores alike, there is a lot to enjoy in Destroy The Machines; an album born of rage, it returns the anger tenfold.