CRIMINAL ELEMENT

Crime and Punishment Pt. 1

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8 / 10

Track listing:

01. Backstabber
02. Fake and a Fraud
03. Crime & Punishment
04. Fading Survival
05. Personal Demons

It's not just the resume that is impressive; it's the music too. That was the case with Death Metal Commando Unit CRIMINAL ELEMENT's 2008 full-length "Guilty as Charged". But it is on the "Crime and Punishment Pt. 1" EP where the group not only raises its already-considerable game, but throws down the gauntlet as a killing machine that rivals its members' current and former bands, namely MISERY INDEX and DYING FETUS.

That a band that includes in its ranks ex-DYING FETUS vocalist Vince Matthews and current MISERY INDEX members Mark Kloeppel (guitar) and Adam Jarvis (drums),sounds pretty much like a cross between MISERY INDEX and DYING FETUS is no big surprise. But before you assail "Crime and Punishment Pt. 1" as somehow unnecessary or a poor imitation, get your head straight and get with the program. The fact of the matter is that most bands would kill to have an album that sounds like either of the aforementioned heavyweights (MISERY INDEX in particular). That's not the end of it though. Consider five songs inclusive of some of the best elements of each band, filed down to a sharp point, and garnished with a pinch of unique personality. That in a nutshell is "Crime and Punishment Pt. 1". That's some serious competition, folks.

In other words, on "Crime and Punishment Pt. 1" you get DYING FETUS' groove and tech-ish guitar elements matched with the short/sharp/shock death 'n grind of MISERY INDEX, melded into succinct, memorably written, and dangerously neck-wrecking structure. Entirely original? Nope. Virtually flawless in delivery and song construction? Yep. Each song is somehow shrapnel-blasting and surgically precise at once and all of them feature fantastic riff/tempo (and even vocal on "Personal Demons") changeups and beat-downs. Taking "Fake and a Fraud" as the exemplary case, you'll hear savage licks, fantastic accents, the machine-gunning bass lines of Mike Lilly, and one hell of a lot of forward-motion forcefulness. The icing on the cake is a lacerating cover of DECEASED's "Fading Survival". I bet you didn't expect that!

Remember how BLACK BREATH's "Razor to Oblivion" made you drool over the prospect of a full-length's worth of similar material? CRIMINAL ELEMENT's "Crime and Punishment Pt. 1" has that very same effect. The threat is real and the bullshit is nonexistent. Watch out!

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