I had to double-check... No! I had to fucking sextuple-check that this really was a new song from Italian band Ultra-Violence, the same that gave us fine "Clockwork Orange" inspired, violent thrash metal.

I have to admit, that the first thing that struck me was how the band looked like. Gone are long hairs, except for one guy. Gone are band shirts, and now we got over-sized unified uniforms with some sci-fi style logo and pants with long straps. I would be scared that straps like that would stick to something moving close by, like a speeding lorry... They look hazardous, in a totally wrong way. It all makes guys look like they were a pop band and not a metal band. Like looks matter, huh?! Sadly they do, because this new style of the band feels totally built. Built like a bloody couturier, that is!

While the band's thrash wasn't exactly unique, this is way less so. Bands can change their sound successfully, and who knows, maybe Ultra-Violence also did so, when thinking about gaining listeners outside thrash metal maniacs. They are totally selling out to thrash metal here.

Needless to mention that this song feels like it was fully engineered for consumers who just care about a single song, not album. To this generation of listeners who do not give a fuck about bands.

Would you be surprised if I told that there's electronics here? How about djent? How about metalcore? There is. This sounds like a mixture of Linkin' Park and Amaranthe. Well, at least there's no female vocals... Aggressive vocals are still biting, but with metalcore edge. The clean ones heavily remind of Chester Bennington, but are more powerful. Hey, would you be surprised if I told that vocoder is utilized? It is.

Blunt djent rhythm guitars (when someone made the first ones, there was no way to create any new-sounding ones, and that's my opinion, that has lasted for years now and I have still to hear that I'm wrong) may be heavy-sounding, but there no room for any catchiness. We get hopping metalcore drumming, but also some double kick drumming. The chorus is the melodic part of the song with its clean vocals and futuristic synthesizer melody. The only riff that sticks is on the heaviest part of the song, which also features some very fast kick drumming. The guitar solo (yes, there is one!!!) is rather nice tapping, but very short. Loud, but rather empty.

A big part about the song feels like it was coming from nowhere else than a fully calculated streaming hit music factory. The sound is of course very polished. Still, the band wanted to stick to some metal bits (extreme drumming, riffing and a guitar solo). Didn't the band ever think about changing their name like they changed almost everything else? However, to tell the truth, I really have heard much worse songs, and much worse pop metal acts. Still, I'm devastated about how U-V chose to go on, but I'll survive.

Rating: 3- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/01/2021 12:15