Mass Album Review

It’s been a long time coming for the 2^nd full length Pariah album but I’ll be honest, it was fully worth the wait!

Starting off with a melodic instrumental piece that warms you up, gets you comfortable, makes you feel safe… Then the brutal onslaught begins with the second track Unholy Disorder filled with mosh heavy riffs, it kinda takes you over and no matter where you are you feel overwhelmed by the pit inside your head (try listening to this album on headphones in public without looking like you’re having a seizure, I dare you).

The third track off the album Centre Of Abuse gives me hints of their first album but entirely different at the same time, they’re still the same band but something has changed… a progression of their inner metal perhaps?

The standout tracks for me would have to be Unholy Disorder, Mass Suicide, and the secret track- I haven’t had an album with a secret track in a while so I did feel a little bit like a teenager again, and I got to have a bit of a laugh too!

The song writing and musicianship have come such a long way since the first album, and the effort put into it is clearly visible throughout this entire album. There is still the breakdown groove style riffs intermeshed with technicality, the range of vocal techniques are still as varied as their influences, the drum tracks are still laying down “riffs” to enhance every nuance of the music, but everything is improved, better, more brutal… and this is exactly why these guys remain one of my favourite NZ metal bands.

When I heard the first Pariah album I began hounding them for a second, and a couple years later I finally have it playing so loud even my neighbours are lucky enough to appreciate it, the same thing I will be doing with every other album they release if this is anything to go by- I just hope I don’t have to wait quite as long for the next release!