Cabal 34 - "Cryptocracy"

Cabal 34 are a 3 piece industrial metal band from Middletown,NY. Here they serve up their raw and gritty album from 2011 "Cryptocracy". This 13 song offering is full of chunky riffs, sludgy bass and pulsating, hypnotic rythmns that call to mind classic Ministry. Album opener "Dead As Dreams" boasts a punky/thrash vibe with an infectious chorus and riffs that would give goose bumps to Prong's Tommy Victor. "Parabellum" has a very anthemic feel with it's fist pumping verse and chorus and it's chaotic, neck snapping bridge. The great thing about this band is they dont flood their songs with needless loops and fills, while there are a decent share of movie quotes and clips and such, it actually adds to the musical atmosphere and doesnt feel forced in order to cover up any lack of musicianship. Cabal 34 are industrial metal without the "mechanical" feeling, the band keep it very raw and organic and original. Lyrically this album is themed around politicians and the corrupt government and all the lies we are spoon fed in the media every day much as was the case in their debut 2007's "Age Of Poison Thought". "Slow Acting Poison" lyrically deals with the environment around us and chemical issues we've been dealing with in our food and in the air around us. "Rex-84" with it's droning verse riff and punk fuelled chorus, brings to light how we are being raised as fear mongers and the media uses terror as a weapon against us to keep us sheltered by "big brother". "Children Of God" focuses on the religion fueled war and killings in the middle east. Vocal clips of middle eastern vocals swirl into the mix here and fit perfectly with this songs thumping tribal rythmns and pulsating guitar licks. "Cryptocracy" the album's title track is my personal fave here. I personally love when an album's title track really kicks my ass, it makes me like all the other tunes even more as I feel the title track makes the ultimate statement about the album as a whole. The spacy, mesmerizing verse with it's eerie guitar fills give way to a brutal chorus and a pounding outro containing more thought provoking clips themed around government conspiracy. The absolutely raging "Anno Lucis" closes this album out with it's throbbing stoner metal riffery that calls to mind "Deliverance" era Corrosion Of Conformity. Completely infectious and undeniably catchy, this song plods along for just over 9 minutes, but I can guarantee you'll not only want to hear this track again, but you'll need another listen to the full disk as well. Cabal 34 put forth an A+ effort here not just because of the incredibly catchy and well crafted songwriting contained in the 13 tracks that make up "Cryptocracy", but because of their originality factor. There is no other band bashing out the headbanging goodness in the Hudson Valley of NY in the style that Cabal 34 is doing it. This band definitely has their influences, but they take the ball and run with their own flavor in a very refreshing way. Do yourself a favor and check out this great band on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cabal-34-band/172136586138434 and you can email them at CabalThirtyFour@yahoo.com and keep up with their upcoming shows and buy yourself a copy of "Cryptocracy" and their debut "Age Of Poison Thought". You can hear cuts from this album Thursday nights on Up From The Underground at www.brutalexistenceradio.com the internet's #1 station for heavy metal!!!