Band – Kill The Con Man
Album – Operation Just Cause
Country of Origin – USA
Genre – Deathgrind
Release Date – March 26, 2021
Label – Riot Ready Records
Author – Hayduke X
Just this past week, I connected with Riot Ready Records. I’ve been looking to bring more grind into my writing mix and by the serendipity of a Facebook group thread, we discovered each other. Label owner Wesley Richards promptly sent over three releases from the label. This twelve song, twelve and a half minute ripper of raging deathgrind is the first to get played, and I was immediately thrilled with the result. Operation Just Cause bangs hard by going straight for the jugular and never letting go.
As I understand it, Richards writes and records all of the music for Kill The Con Man himself, but there is a live lineup of himself on guitar and vocals, June Belford on bass, and Nate Williams on drums. In reverse order, the drums are impatient, driving, and creative. Occasionally it sounds like a drum machine might be used to get the speeds on display, but that would be supplemental, not primary. The bass is the thundering thread of anxiety rumbling through the whole album. The riffs are urgent, slashing and burning the listener’s mental landscape. Vocals are varied with quality highs and lows, growls and shrieks, and even hardcore punk chants here and there straight out of the mid-80s.
Lyrically, this album is rife with urgent messages from the left. A fellow anarchist, Richards takes on everything from police brutality to capitalist oppression, and much in-between. For example, the lyrics from Patriots starts with this verse:
A blind faith, disregard what’s ethical
Defenders of nothing exceptional
Conviction to a made up history
Guardians of a fake victory
Solidarity, my friend. Keep raising your voice. The final analysis of this album is that it’s part of the red hot ember of the left. If the world keeps fueling this fire, will it burn out of control? Perhaps. Regardless, this album is worth at least an hour of your time. That’ll give you five spins!
Biography: Hayduke X has been writing for MoshPitNation since June of 2016. He is also a contributor to The Metal Wanderlust. Prior to joining the MoshPitNation team, Hayduke published reviews on his own blog Rage and Frustration. In addition, he has DJ’ed an online metal radio show of the same name as his blog, written for TOmetal.com, done interviews for Metal Rules, and collaborated with The Art of B Productions to create video interviews with a wide variety of bands.
