Rig Time – War!

Band – Rig Time!

Album – War

Country of Origin – USA

Genre – Powerviolence/Hardcore/Sludge Metal

Release Date – October 20th, 2017

Label – Innerstrength Records

Author – Hayduke X

Rig Time! is pissed off and they want you to know it. They even use an exclamation point in the band name to continuously drive the point home. The Wisconsin trio uses anger as their most defining characteristic, in fact. Their anger is a righteous anger, burning intensely at the injustices of the world. They are completely earnest when, in Deserve, they yell:  No respect for the world / Has left the world with no choice. And later: We should have never let them speak for us! This is not a show. I completely the fire they spew forth in a rage at wrongs done.

Musically, the trio owes a debt of gratitude to My War era Black Flag and Rage Against the Machine. Everything is abrasive and in your face. There is no nuance, only a concrete block to the jaw. You know what though? Sometimes that’s exactly what the doctor ordered. Perhaps we need to spend more time pissed off. There I go, off track again. Back to the music. Rig Time! features Rebecca Fleming (Guitar), Mark Trueman (Bass, Vocals), and Bryan W. Fleming (Vocals, Drums). Both the guitar and bass riffs are big chunky monsters devouring a path through etiquette. The drums are bruising in their intensity. I wonder how often Fleming has to change out drumheads?

War will not set a new standard for musicality, nor does it create a new genre. There isn’t anything particularly mind blowing on this album. That isn’t its purpose though. War is there to sound the clarion call that we are perhaps already at war. This is visceral, angry, political punk rock, screamed straight from the heart, metal style.

Recommendation:  When I need to just rage, this will become one of my go-to albums.

Rating:  3/5