Abaddon- Life Out of Balance LP ~~ GREEN SWIRL VINYL

Brutal metalcrust from the Midwest. If you are still reading after the word "metalcrust," then this record should be required listening for your black clad ears. Everything you could want is in these six songs--burly-ass rampaging crust riffs will bowl you over without leaving so much as a 7-10 split in their wake while the high/low dual vocals command every ounce of your attention. The metal parts that make up about half of every song are what really surprise me. This is where bands usually lose my interest, but ABADDON never sacrifice good rocking songs in favor of just grinding for grind's sake, and they never lose momentum while playing fretboard gymnastics; they just fucking crush you. There are a few breathers, quieter interludes that merely lull you into thinking that the record might mellow out a touch, but the best you will get is about 45 seconds of doo before "Nerve Damage" kicks back in and the songs wraps up with an out-of-this-world solo and a double-bass fade-out that is near perfect. Flip the slab over, and side two simply burns--an onslaught. The lyrics are bleak as hell, sometimes abstract, but mostly just a grim analysis of life the way that so many in the middle of the country live it. If it's not obvious by now, this comes highly recommended