Okay, just so I can have it in print: go out and buy HIS HERO IS GONE’s second album, Monument To Thieves, now. In the grind/hardcore/power violence world, it’s top-notch and it ranks as one of my favourite albums of all time, nestled right in there with ASSUCK and BRUTAL TRUTH classics (ah… a sense of calm washes over me just typing all those band names together). For this, their third and final album (originally released in 1998, now digitally reissued via Feral Ward and Moshpit Tragedy), the band underwhelmed just a teeny bit, which, in HHIG’s world, translated into “released an album that was easily the best heavy release of that year.” All that this one lacked was the ultra-memorable songwriting the previous disc had, this time around the band going for faster, louder, even less friendly, that beautiful production sound insanely full and muddy, just like on the last album (check out “Enslavement Redefined” for a glimpse of how great extreme music can really be). The sound this band created was that mythical middle ground between DISCHARGE and MOTÖRHEAD that people are always bandying about, and HHIG filtered it all through grind and power violence channels, creating an intensely personal and emotive musical experience that was about as heavy as music can be without bordering on self-parody. This is as honest and expressive as music this heavy can be and, while not their best, The Plot Sickens is still a shockingly good album that serves as an amazing epitaph for this much-missed band.