I spent entirely too long trying to sub-genrefy Nefarious‘ Addicted to Power (Relentless Metal Records). Among the eight tracks on this non-stop aural assault, Thrash, Power, and OG NWOBHM/Warlock/Accept-era influences share a sonic landscape littered with anger, cynicism, and Lovecraft. Before we go any further, let me say I enjoyed this album thoroughly and recommend it highly. You may question that at times if you keep reading.
I also spent entirely too long trying to decipher the politics of these guys. Anger, frustration, and politics infuse five of the eight tracks. The words inchoate and unfocused most accurately describe the lyrics of the first four of the “political” tunes, only “One Nation Enslaved” seems to be targeted generally at the current regime. Generally.
Instead of Rage Against the Machine, Nefarious rages against The Crumbles. The beginning of the second (now-perpetual) season of the podcast “It Could Happen Here” describes our current American society as being in “The Crumbles,” a condition we’ll all recognize as the erosion of social nicities, norms, and cohesion that polemicists like Orban, Putin, Netanyahu, and Trump use to break us all down into tiny fighting tribes all pissed at each other. The purpose of this particular digression is to place about two-thirds of Addicted to Power in context. Nefarious gives us the soundtract to The Crumbles.
The opening minute-ish of “Mirror Death” sounds like the opening to at least a third of your standard Thrash albums, especially Megadeth‘s “Into the Lungs of Hell” (So Far, So Good, So What?) (Katon w. De Pena of Hirax) delivers splenetic frustration at science (maybe,) but a good listen nonetheless. Nefarious is a “supergroup;” you’ll notice the singer is from Hirax, Rick Hunolt (DieHumane, ex-Exodus,) and Doug Piercy (of Heathen) deliver spectacular guitars, while bassist Tom Gears (Blind Illusion) and drummer Will “Beastman” Carroll of (Death Angel/Old Grandad) round out the group. You should recognize most of those bands.
The title track follows with a straight-ahead diatribe against the megalomaniacal oligarch class. “Master Plan” follows with an unfocused diatribe against the levers of power. The guitars and rhythm perform heroically behind what is honestly the raving luatic the right-wing thinks lefties are. Fun song, but tough to decipher with logic (I worry about the uncritical inclusion of chem trails.) This is either unhinged or satire. I can’t tell.
Rage-filled “Day After” describes the consequences of the destruction by a nuclear holocaust with the same level of present-tense danger of Metallica‘s “Blackened” or Ozzy‘s entire The Ultimate Sin album.
Crunchy-ass guitars, solid drums, and a supportive bass deliver continuous dopamine hits to any metal fan’s brain. Anyone with a playlist including Iron Maiden, Slayer, and Suicidal Tendencies will groove along with Nefarious.
“Snarler” makes a Lovecraftian horror of the chupacabra, holding back on using that name for almost two minutes. All is forgiven necause of the supremely tasty (and lengthy) guitar solos.
The last two tracks get angrier as they go, and the vocals get progressively more Exodus Toxic Waltz-styled. To wit, the near-iambic emphasis on the line “A NAtion DIVided is WHAT we’ve beCOME“ (which gets repreated as part of the chorus) exemplifies this increased stylization. Interesting, but it just didn’t work for me.
For whatever reason, the download I got segregated track four, “Together We Rise,” as a separate album(?) titled Master Plan. While the sound remains consistent with the other seven tracks, it is the one hopeful song, promoting social cohesion and mutual support against The Crumbles. The most uplifting tune of the bunch. Interesting how it’s coded differently.
Some of the overly stylized vocals from “One Nation Enslaved” and a few clichèd lyrics are all that keep this from being a perfect album.
Don’t let that stop you. Get Addicted to Power today, but don’t, you know, get addicted to power yourself. The world already sucks enough.
Buy the album here:
9 / 10
LARRY ROGERS
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