I liked a few numetal bands.

There, I said it.

I once read an interview with Gene Hoglan where he indicated, very strongly, that we are lucky to live in an age where even the shitty metal acts are better than much of the dross he (and, as I am around his age, I) was stuck with coming up. I took this view to heart, as it is true. If you can somehow divorce yourself from your petty expectations and just take each band as it comes, most of the metal being made today is, relatively speaking, pretty good.

Of course, humans are apes, and apes are social mammals, and being social means we are never fully able to divorce ourselves from herd trends – or getting sick of the same; which is to say, I can’t ignore the history I have with nu/suburban-metal or whatever it is. I am speaking of mid paced, simplistic, beat heavy metal that foregoes a lot of what makes metal exciting in favor of simple headbanging beats. It fills the niche that, when I was a young man, was occupied by glam/hair metal, in that it had a pretty decent beginning, a ridiculously overplayed hayday, and a sad decline. And like hair metal, the genre maintains some devotees well beyond when it was last compelling or relevant.

As I said, when it was first a thing I had a few bands I truly loved. Static X, Sevendust, even a few Korn or Slipknot tracks. And I will admit that I loved the production and infectious percussive nature of the music itself. It was just that a little went a long way, and that way ran out around 2000.

Caustic Method would have been a band I took to. They are not a bad example of the style at all. The vocals are mostly roar/shouted, the guitars are thick and meaty, the bass is lung-emptying, and the drums are thumpy and steady. The occasional clean vocal sneaks in and sounds typically earnest and silly. The songs are full of Scott-Ian-light riffing and punctuation. Their promotional material lists acts such as Otep, American Head Charge and Hatebreed for comparative reference – well, they may compare favorably to Otep and AHC, but Hatebreed is above their weight class. Still, this is serviceable, occasionally exciting, if wear-worn metal for people who don’t care about speed, technicality, atmosphere, relevance or originality.

But that is an issue, because most people reading this site DO care, deeply, about those little factors. Not many here, I am guessing, are looking for 1998 college dorm drinking music. We have Fallujah. We have Nile. We have Pig Destroyer and Anaal Nathrakh. And we have scads of used CD bins where we can pick up Wisconsin Death Trip or Home if we REALLY need some beat heavy, angry suburban drunk bro music. As much as I punt for any band that is doing their best to be true to whatever they are true to, I can’t get past the feeling that I liked all these songs better back when Biohazard did them.

And I do punt for these guys. I would go to a show and drink and fist pump and headbang to this band. Well, I would if I were not old and broken and antisocial. The point is this is NOT a bad band, or a bad record. It is just past the genre’s prime, and I have seen too many bands that do this as well or better in my life. Maybe you have not. Maybe you loved the late 90’s to mid aughts American radio metal scene and wish there were some bands still making that stuff. Maybe you simply have room in your eclectic cupboard for a simple rocking metal band. If any of those things are you, check Virus out. You may be very glad you did.

I myself will probably, after wishing Caustic Method best of luck, keep ‘podding Blaze of Perdition.

[Visit the band's website]

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