Original Review on Chronic Youth

Weekend Nachos
Shot In the Head
Relapse Records

Simply put, Weekend Nachos is the raddest band to surface from Chicago this side of Nachtmystium. In fact, the band is essentially a Chronic Youth wet dream. Melding together the speed and angst of Integrity with the down-tuned sludge of His Hero Is Gone and breakdowns that would make any Hatebreed diehard go apeshit, "Shot In the Head" is an homage to the very best of '90s hardcore. The band's debut, Unforgiveable, is due on September 1st via Relapse and they'll be touring throughout the US to support that beast. If you have any passion for circle pits or quality core whatsoever, do yourself a favor and pre-order this. Relapse, job well fucking done.

Available for pre-order here.

When I heard Punish and Destroy for the first time, Weekend Nachos easily became one of my favorite punk/metal bands. I was positive that these guys, along with Trap Them, would be the leaders of the next wave of great extreme music. Then Trap Them released Seizures in Barren Praise, a significant drop-off from their first two releases, in my mind. Weekend Nachos, however, put forth a few decent tracks on This Comp Kills Fascists. I wasn't blown away like I was with Punish and Destroy, but I convinced myself they were saving the best for last.

Despite that, the band's latest effort, Unforgivable, has left me a bit disappointed. To be fair, it's not so much a poor showing as it is a failure to reach extremely high expectations.

The hateful band with the fun-sounding name hasn't lost any of the contradiction between its title and its lyrical themes. Relaxation and good times are nowhere to be found, and the vitriol is taken to a downright shocking extent. Anyone who was into this band because of the attitude couldn't possibly be disappointed with this release. The songs definitely take on a new meaning in light of the words behind them; the extremity of it all is terrifying and the sincerity behind it can't be questioned.

With that said, I feel like the sonic merit of this release probably doesn't match that of Punish and Destroy. Admittedly, part of my assessment is based on nothing more than personal preference. If you like breakdown-heavy d-beat, you should love this album. If you're more interested in blast beats and irrational bursts of carnage - the stuff you're likely to find in greater abundance on the band's past recordings - this record might underwhelm you. The rage is still fully intact and there certainly are fast parts, but some of tracks feel as if they can't wait to get to the breakdown. On the other hand, the verses, short as they may be, are usually of good quality. There's also a ton of fantastic feedback manipulation.

The album's first two tracks (“2009,” “Elevated Tracks”) play continuously and display the previously mentioned breakdown-emphasis. It works well in this instance, to the band's credit. “2009” begins with a typical d-beat guitar line and an onslaught of tight blast beats before “Elevated Tracks” descends into an otherwise boring breakdown with interesting background atmospherics. I don't know if it was produced by the band or a sample, but there's a really cool, evil-sounding chant in the background that gives the track grim and entrancing exit music.

“Rejected Psychopath” is a track where this formula doesn't work as well. It starts out with a verse of rather generic hardcore riffs and beats and turns into a snore-worthy breakdown in under a minute. The lyrical content of this track shows it isn't filler, but the music tries to convince me otherwise, which is a shame.

One of the more interesting and promising songs on the album is the title track, which basically takes the band into doom metal territory. I have no problem with slow metal - some of my favorite bands qualify as such. I just want my slow metal to consist of quality riffs rather than copout breakdowns, and this track accomplishes the former. “Unforgivable” demonstrates an impressive brandishing of distortion and crunchy doom riffs.

As a whole, Unforgivable is a solid release. I do feel like it's underwhelming when placed aside Punish and Destroy, but it definitely stands on its own.

This band's lyrics and imagery really are something else; something horrifying. The album cover to Unforgivable speaks for itself, but I don't even feel comfortable reciting the words to this album on here. It's not that they're especially offensive or vulgar - it's just that they're so incredibly bleak and nihilistic. In addition, no one can read the lyrics sheet to Unforgivable and dismiss it is vapid or feigned.

It's amusing that the prudish, conservative masses in the U.S. freak out over harmless antics from the likes of Marilyn Manson and Slayer while this band goes totally under the radar. I consider myself quite hardened, but this shit is just beyond belief.

It's not like I find this to lessen the band's artistic merit; quite the opposite. I can't relate to most of it, but the convincingness of it all forces you to accept and understand it to some degree. That in itself is impressive - it's a definitive characteristic of powerful art. It would take a completely cold and insentient person to read these words and not feel connected. Ironically, the humanity of Weekend Nachos can't be denied.