Nails - Unsilent Death CD Review (Southern Lord)

Tim Lambesis ruined the ability of music reviewers to use the phrase ‘totally brutal’ with his Austrian Death Machine project but I’m going to go for it anyway and call the new CD from Nails “totally brutal”. Over the last few decades, I’ve seen some crazy mosh pits but Nails’ new disc sounds like an immediate flashpoint that will start the violence flowing.

I was only loosely familiar with Nails prior to Unsilent Death [the band’s second disc] and had made some assumptions based on guitarist/vocalist Todd James’ time in Terror. There is really no comparison between the two bands as Nails’ music sits right on the line between hardcore and grid. The disc’s ten tracks blast through in fourteen minutes and most tracks clock in at about a minute.

The disc contains two ‘longer’ songs ("Unsilent Death" and "Depths") which are given the opportunity to develop musically but even the shorter songs have a chance to spew their fury. These shorter songs don’t feel like the typical grindcore microsong as producer Kurt Ballou brings out the band’s chugging riffs, noisy leads and blast beats so that they are all individually distinguishable. Even more noticeable is that the vocals are (somewhat) understandable and the listener can hear James’ lyrical themes about railing against authority and the struggle of the human condition.

Nails just came through with Venomous Concept and here is some live footage from their stop in Albany.



Unsilent Death was originally released earlier this year on CD (Six Feet Under) and limited edition vinyl (now sold out). Southern Lord recently reissued the new disc on both CD and 180 gram black vinyl.

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Nails (Southern Lord) Kicks off US Tour // Show at Europa on Sept. 23rd

New Southern Lord signees Nails are kicking off a US tour this month which stops at Europa on Sept. 23rd. On the bill with Nails are Venomous Concept and Strong Intention. Tickets are $12 and the show is all ages.

NAILS’ music is beyond brutality; filthy, vicious and raw. Imagine a cross between the good Amrep bands of the nineties (Helmet, Hammerhead, Today is The Day, Unsane) and Cro-Mags Age of Quarrel riffage played at breakneck speeds. Their epic battle cry Unsilent Death was recorded during the cold winter of 2009 at Kurt Ballou’s (Converge, Trap Them, Disfear, Black Breath) Godcity Recording Studio. The CD version of Unsilent Death was originally released in very limited quantities by Six Feet Under records. The LP version was self released by the band on the band’s own Streetcleaner label and quickly sold through the 1000 piece pressing. Southern Lord is extremely honored to pick up the torch of this album and let it burn brightly through many more countless battles!

With plans already in place to record a new release for Southern Lord in early 2011, the NAILS crew will spend the rest of this year on the road. As previously announced, the band will take part in the Southern Lord-sponsored The Power Of The Riff Festival in Los Angeles on August 8th alongside Goatsnake, Black Breath, From Ashes Rise, Repulsion, the Animosity-era lineup of Corrosion of Conformity and countless more. In early September they embark on a cross-country rampage that will last over a month, including five dates opening for Venomous Concept.



NAILS September/October 2010 Tour:
9/05/2010 Nile Front Room - Mesa, AZ
9/06/2010 10756 Limas - El Paso, TX
9/07/2010 Ten Eleven - San Antonio, TX
9/08/2010 Red 7 - Austin, TX
9/09/2010 The Nightmare - Dallas, TX
9/10/2010 Downtown Music - Little Rock, AR
9/11/2010 The Roxy - West Hollywood, CA w/ Trash Talk, Magrudergrind
9/12/2010 Firehouse - Birmingham, AL
9/13/2010 585 Wells - Atlanta, GA
9/14/2010 Talent Farm - Pembroke Pines, FL
9/15/2010 Transitions - Tampa, FL
9/16/2010 Warehouse 8B - Jacksonville, FL
9/17/2010 Legitmate Business - Greensboro, NC
9/18/2010 Daniels Pub - Cincinnati, OH
9/19/2010 Dojo - Indianapolis, IN
9/20/2010 Double Door - Chicago, IL w/ Venomous Concept
9/21/2010 Blondie’s - Detroit, MI w/ Venomous Concept
9/22/2010 Sonar - Baltimore, MD w/ Venomous Concept
9/23/2010 Europa - Brooklyn, NY w/ Venomous Concept, Strong Intention
9/24/2010 Katacombes - Montreal, QC w/ Venomous Concept
9/25/2010 Sneaky Dees - Toronto, ON w/ Venomous Concept
9/26/2010 242 Main - Burlington, VT
9/27/2010 Bogies - Albany, NY
9/28/2010 *TBA - Philadelphia, PA
9/29/2010 Lilly’s Pad - New Haven, CT
9/30/2010 The Church - Cleveland, OH
10/01/2010 Mickey Finn’s - Toledo, OH
10/02/2010 1108 Main - Cedar Falls, IA
10/03/2010 The Beat - Minneapolis, MN
10/04/2010 Scion Lab - Kansas City, MO
10/05/2010 Blast O Mat - Denver, CO
10/08/2010 Che Café - San Diego, CA
10/09/2010 Sub Mission - San Francisco, CA
10/10/2010 The CYC - Fresno, CA
10/30/2010 Troubadour - Hollywood, CA

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