Of course I like Misery Index. Who the hell wouldn't? The band hits that sweet spot between death metal and grindcore where it is just pure fucking brutality. They never release a bad album and they keep to a fairly simple formula: make as much noise as possible. Their last album, The Killing Gods was quite possibly their best, which is an impressive feat given how long the band has been active and how great albums like Traitors and Heirs to Thievery were. And so, obviously I was going to grab their newest album.
This one seems to have taken a tiny step backwards. It is still a fucking monster of an album, but something just seems a little bit off about it. It was kind of evident from the beginning. Opening track "Universal Untruths" just is not the kind of rampaging track that should be opening a Misery Index album. It feels like it is supposed to be building to something, like the entire track is supposed to be leading into something absolutely enormous, and then it just does not get there. Well, technically it builds into "Decline and Fall", the next track, but it definitely does not stand on its own. From there though, the band basically returns to the sound that has made them one of the most punishing bands in metal today. Songs like "New Salem" and "The Choir Invisible" are up there with some of the best songs the band has ever done. Unfortunately, in general the band just does not reach the heights that they have previously hit.
This is still a damn fine album though the band seems to be a little less intense this time around. It would have been very difficult to top The Killing Gods even if the band was on top of their game. Unfortunately they just do not quite deliver it all here.
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