MISERY INDEX — Heirs To Thievery (review)

MISERY INDEX — Heirs To Thievery album cover Album · 2010 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Heirs To Thievery" is the 4th full-length studio album by US death metal act Misery Index. The album was released in May 2010 by Relapse Records.

The music on the 11 track, 34:21 minute long album is a combination of death metal, grindcore and deathcore. No matter what you choose to tag the music the key element in the band´s sound is relentless and fierce aggression. These guys are angry and they´ve chosen to write music that succesfully channels that anger. If you ever need a kick in the ass or a slap in the face, I suggest you put on "Heirs To Thievery". The music on this album is so powerful it threatens to blow you to pieces. While the pace in the songs is usually fast to blasting, Misery Index more than masters playing heavier riffs too. Take a listen to the mid-paced heavy "The Seventh Cavalry" for proof of that. The songs are pretty simple in structure ( yet full of little details) and very effective in terms of powerful delivery but they are also quite memorable. Hooks in extreme metal are a luxury, but Misery Index deliver one memorable hook after the other on "Heirs To Thievery". And we´re not necessarily talking melodic hooks. It´s how the rythms in the vocals and the riffs are delivered that matters here. Not that there are no melodic elements in the songs, because there are melodic lead fills here and there, but the focus is on crushingly brutal riffs and fierce aggression.

The musicianship on the album is excellent. We´re talking razor sharp riffing and precision drumming. The vocals vary between deep growls and aggressive raw vocals. The latter has a "core" edge to them.

The production is very powerful. One of the things I noticed upon first listen was how high the drums are in the mix and to great effect IMO.

"Heirs To Thievery" more than delivers what I had hoped for. Actually I was a bit afraid that the "core" element in the band´s sound would have an effect on how much I could appreciate the album, but the dose of "core" elements is just right. Misery Index fortunately avoid many of the clichés in deathcore and when they pull out a breakdown or some other feature that you would normally associate with that genre it works. I can´t give a scientific explanation to how come that is, but these guys just know how to write effective extreme metal, that you won´t come across very often. A 4 - 4.5 star rating is deserved.
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J-Man wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I've never checked out this band... I'll have to look into purchasing this album! :-D
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
yeah this has got to be one of the most kick ass albums I´ve heard in a while.
Stooge wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Good description. I love the energy of this album!

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