Do you remember the first time you heard something as insane sounding as COALESCE or CONVERGE? Sure – right now, you’re probably a jaded ol’ listener who thinks every heavy band is doing the same goddamn thing, but back then, back in those salad days, this kind of stuff scared the pants off of you. Austin, Texas’ answer to out-of-control grind/tech-metalcore is THUMBSCREW, a swell five-piece that bludgeons your ears like the way a coyote mashes through a pack of disabled possums. Within Hearts of Redemption isn’t pretty and its brisk five songs barely covers 12 minutes of music, but it gets up in your grill and pokes at your teeth with a metal rod. Too bad then for the band that the lyrics to this EP are generous piles of shit. Bask in the glow of such witty lines as “I should have treated you like the trash you are / a dirty, dirty scumbag whore,” or “Ah, we had that midnight flame that I just fell for / worthless hoe / lift up your skirt and bare your legs / your shame uncovered / you will be exposed.” THUMBSCREW have impressive musical chops, but the lyrical tripe spreads over this like a flesh eating disease and frankly, it’s a fatal problem.

Imagine It

www.imagineitrecords.com