Time Signature Welcome back to the wasteland...

Genre: "crustover" thrash

Last year, in the middle of a pandemic wreaking havoc on the world, Children of Technology released their third album "Written Destiny". Their entire spiel has always been a road warrior-like post-apocalyptic concept, so I guess the timing couldn't be better.

The album is a short sharp shock featuring eight tracks, the song lengths falling between 2:41 and 5:39. In other words, they are not too long and not too short, and that's just perfect for Children of Technology's crust-punk infused style of crossover thrash metal. Pretty much all of the tracks are fast-paced and combine thrash-style fast picking with punky chord ripping, and this works really well, I think. Whether deliberate or not, there are even some elements on this album that are reminiscent of very early thrash metal along the lines of "Kill 'Em All" (think 'Motorbreath', 'Whiplash' or 'Phantom Lord'). Fans of old school punk and hardcore style breakdowns will also enjoy this album as there are plenty of those (but none of that metalcore breakdown stuff that was so popular a couple of years ago).

Energetic and aggressive, the compositions are not chaotic though but come across as rather meticulously structured. The production is not really lo-fi either, meaning that fans of more tech and polished thrash metal might find this album to be a gateway into the dirtier and punkier subworld of the genre. The vocals are more like a mix of yells and screams than singing or growling, and the lead guitars range from archetypical thrash metal histrionics to being quite melodic at time, which is nice.

Fans of dirty crossover thrash and hardcore punk (and Mad Max!) should find this album very enjoyable.

Time Signature Under the ripping storm...

Genre: crust metal

Italy's road warriors of crust metal are with a vengeance, slapping you in the face with a post-apocalyptic crust-attack in the form of "Future Decay", which was released in August via Hell's Headbangers Records. Now, this band has a load of underground releases under their belt, but "Future Decay" is only their second full-length album and thus the follow-up on 2010's "It's Time to Face the Doomsday".

Children of Technology pretty much carry on the turbo-charged crusty pun-metal style known from their debut album and their underground releases. Thus, the listener is treated to crust-oriented music loads of primitive aggressive energy, as heard in the d-beats of 'Fear the Mohawk Reaper', 'Future Decay', 'Remembrance Day' (well, pretty much in all the songs). So, this album should definitely appeal to fans of crust punk. That said, there are plenty of metallic elements on this album, and perhaps more than one might expect from Children of Technology, such as some speed metal riffing in 'future Decay', the high-way rocking main riff of 'Blackout', the heavy and groovy opening of 'Eaten Dust Overload' (which is pretty damn awesome, I must say), more speed metal riffing in 'Under the Ripping Storm', and some palm-muted chucking in 'Hold Up Your Fuel'. 'Hold Up Your Fuel' is probably the best track on the album due to is dynamics.

The production is not at all polished, but still pretty well defined, and the punky energy of Children of Technology's raw style is successfully reflected in the production.

"Future Decay" is a solid sophomore full-length effort by Italy's premier crust metal road warriors. Fans of dirty crust and punk-metal along the lines of Tiger Junkies, G.I.S.M., and Discharge should find this album very enjoyable.

Time Signature Mayhemic computer anarchy...

Genre: crust/hardcore

The Italian punk metal madmen are back. unleashing a two-track 12'' upon the unsuspecting world.

"Mayhemic Speed Anarchy" is decidedly more punk-oriented than the "It's Time to Face the Doomsday" album from 2010 where metal and hardcore/crust were more balanced.

After a truly cringe-worthy spoken intro, 'Mayhemic Speed Anarchy' kicks into d-beating crust madness. Consisting of simply and energetic punky riffs, this track does nonetheless feature a section with a guitar solo and more metallic palm-muted rhythm guitars. As crust goes, this track is not bad. It has the energy that makes you want to mosh like a madman, and the length is just right length so the energy does not eke out.

'Computer God' is a quite faithful cover version of a song by the Swedish hardcore band Black Uniforms, and is uptempo and aggressive, featuring d-beats and simply hardcore riffage. The intro is, of course, more in the vein of metal, and it also features a metal-oriented guitar solo.

A neat package of energy, "Mayhemic Speed Anarchy" should appeal to fans of punk metal, crust, hardcore and crossover.

Time Signature New enemies to hunt...

Genre: punk metal

Punk and metal have been fused in several ways over the years with Motörhead, Kvelertak, Brats, Darkthrone and a host of crossover bands being particularly accepted by metalheads, while the more youth-oriented style of metalcore is not always popular in the metal universe. Children of Technology belong to the former category of bands, as they combine more old school punk rock with more old school hard rock, infusing a bit of crustcore and a bit of thrash metal into their style.

Combining the primitive energy of punk rock with the tempo and musical affinity of hard rock and metal, Children of Tomorrow have managed to capture the best of both worlds. Thus you are treated to rock 'n' roll guitar solos and d-beat variants as well as palm-muted riffage and punk 'n' roll rage - some tracks like 'Racing to the Valley of Death' are more metal-oriented, while others like 'It's Time to Face the Doomsday' tilt more towards punk rock. Overall, the album strikes me as being more dominated by metal - especially because of the near-omnipresence of old school speed metal elements on the album, while the atmosphere is all out street punk, of which 'Nuclear Armed Dogs' is a good example.

The vocals might come across a bit over the top, and perhaps the Italian accents will annoy some listeners. I do not mind the accents, as they are a type of stamp of authenticity, and the over-the-top roughneck quality of DeathLord Astolfi's voice is easy to get used to. I am sure that some might even argue that his vocals fit the punky music perfectly.

Fans of straight-ahead no-nonsense punked up old school speed metal with a dirty rock 'n' roll edge should not hesitate to acquire this album.