NAILBOMB — Point Blank (review)

Album · 1994 · Industrial Metal

5/5 · 2015-08-12
Vim Fuego

Side projects can be a dodgy proposition. Look at the likes of Brujeria, Six Feet Under, Meathook Seed, Superjoint Ritual, Viking Crown or any number of famous offshoots. All contain members of better known bands who wanted to try a different musical style to their normal gig, but failed to deliver a satisfying performance. They're often indulgent record company favours to keep artists interested, and to gouge fans when a major release is still some time off.

Of course, there are exceptions; S.O.D., Mr Bungle, and Down immediately spring to mind as projects enjoyable to fans of the original artists as well as a wider audience. So does Nailbomb.

Former Sepultura main man Max Cavalera and Alex Newport, of Fudge Tunnel fame, combined their collective forces and produced a master work of massive proportions in Nailbomb, in the process creating one of the best albums of the year for 1994.

The basis for Nailbomb was a guitar sound of titanic proportions melded with a number of rhythms– hardcore, electronic, metallic; synthetic and organic. Over top of it all, Alex and Max trade vitriolic hardcore shouts, keeping it simple and angry in their lyrical targets. Further messing up the mix are some excellent samples, including an absolute classic from "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer". A veritable metallic supergroup, including Igor and Andreas from Sepultura, and Dino Cazares of Fear Factory, helped out.

And what was the final result? An album of hardcore inspired tracks, combining anger filled political and social commentaries with one of the most crushing guitar sounds ever heard. While most comment on this album has concentrated on Max's involvement, it sounds more like a spiced up Fudge Tunnel album than it does a Sepultura by-product. The vocals are often held back in the mix, as Newport was fond of doing in his full time band. There are more Fudge Tunnel-isms in the basic hardcore riffing and some of the song structures.

The rhythm guitar on this album is part sonic boom, part jet engine roar. It really needs to be heard to be believed. Pick any song at random, except the mainly electronic "Shit Piñata", and you will hear it crushing all before it. Whether it's the unstoppable juggernaut in "Sick Life", or the hidden ambush attack of "For Fuck's Sake", the sound is just staggering. This may sound like hyperbole and over emphasis, but take a listen for yourself. Anyone who is not impressed is either deaf or being deliberately obstinate.

This album far outstrips anything either man has been involved with since. Many thought it would be the direction Sepultura would follow. As we now know, Sepultura ripped itself apart, spinning off the awful tribal nu-metal shlock of Soulfly, a watered down and much weakened Sepultura, and the long overdue reunion in the form of Cavalera Conspiracy. None of these entities can touch Nailbomb. ‘Point Blank’ is a metal classic, in every sense.