MISTRESS (In Disgust We Trust) CD
For fans of heavy sludge, MISTRESS are no newcomers to the scene. This Birmingham-based band had released two excellent album's on Rage Of Achilles records, which are now hard to find, because the label finished its work in 2005. But MISTRESS signed with Earache, and apart of the new album, they also reissued the previous two with additional bonus-tracks. Hm, sounds like a good deal and it raises the label's profile, because the days when Earache was an interesting label are long gone. But that's not the topic of this review, and so I focuse on the new one, entitled "In Digust We Trust" and.... still I'm not sure what to think about it. First, I was dissappointed, because the band's sound is not as original as it once was. I miss the psychotic and misanthropic vocals, the monstrous heavy sound of the first album and the fucked-up atmosphere MISTRESS had created. Instead we have a more accessible sound, yet still brutal and aggressive, but more in the vein of later Entombed as for example the opener "In Disgust We Trust". The production isn't as filthy as on the debut, and too commercial for my taste.
In opposite to former times, MISTRESS have kicked out all this amazing slow doom-driven themes, and added more blast-beats and crusty up-tempo elements, what makes them sounding at times, like one of the numerous Dis-bands. But they don't let me down all the way, and didn't forget to integrate this crushing mid-tempo parts in their sound as in "Fucking Fuck" or the pulverising "Alcohole" f.e. And more than on any other release, this five guys have a good taste in humour as one can hear in "Whiskey Tastes Better...", where the band crosses brutal mid-tempo crust with Rob Halford in best "Painkiller" shape!!! And that sounds REAL funny!! "Static" is another track that will surprise the listener with an interwoven true-metal part, and I won't be surprised if all this ideas have been born under the influence of Jägermeister and cheap strong cider..... All this nice surprises and the high amount of killer riffs are the reason why "In Disgust We Trust" is no boring album, and maybe the band needed to come up with this kind of altered sound, but I hope they don't forget their dirty and mean roots...
(KK)