Pist-on
Number One
Fierce Recordings/Futurist Label Group
Original publication by: LetItRock.com
It's conventional wisdom that it is better to pissed off than pissed on. In this case however, conventional wisdom be damned--'cause Pist-on is definitely preferable.
In many ways, this record is a throwback to a different era. Pist.on is bucking the trend of a slew of modern-day rock bands in the "hard music" genre by writing melodic song structures. Lest one be deceived, this is no saccharine sweet "cherry pie" metal. Not even, dude. This shit is melodic, yet just dark enough to be fun. The guitars slice out some monster slabs of riffage as well, with the rest of the instrumentation arranged neatly in the aural soundscape, thanks to the solid production of Type O Negative's Josh Silver.
The band, consisting of Paul Poulos (guitar/backing vox,) Val Ium (a shining example of a woman instrumentalist kicking ass in an otherwise male oriented group on bass/backing vox,) and drummer Danny Jam Kavaldo lays down the solid backbeat that propels this juggernaut along. Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist manages to find the zone that many hard music vocalists fear to tread--he sings, yet he doesn't sound like a wuss doing it. He inflects his melody with enough menace to keep it interesting.
The songwriting, though not credited on the album, is uniformly excellent. Hot spots include tracks "Parole," "Grey Flap," "Exit Wound" (what a great title!) and their cover of the Smiths' classic "Shoplifters of the World Unite." This is dark and chilling stuff, yet the arrangements avoid the cliches and the obvious--no small feat these days. Overall this album is one of the finer debuts to pass through these ears in quite a while. Highly recommended.
Edward "Ace" Annese
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