POPULATION ZERO/FIFTEEN DEAD - XVO
December 16, 2014, 9 years ago
(Suburban White Trash Records)
Philadelphia's Population Zero kick off this split EP (a format I love and hold dear to my cold metal heart, by the way) with four songs of d-beat crust/hardcore. There's a bit of black metal in the screamed vocals, plenty of grindcore in the blasting, and some of the apocalyptic sense of dread that greats like old Neurosis and His Hero Is Gone always had in their music. Of course, Population Zero are neither of those bands, and these songs pack a bit of a punch when they're on, then are promptly forgotten once they're over, even if the sheer manic delivery of "Blast Effects" makes me think I might revisit this band in the future. Scotland's Fifteen Dead run in at the end with two songs of their ugly crust, which contains more or less all of the same elements of their partners here, although with a cooler, fuller production sound and a longer, more drawn out songwriting structure (indeed, these songs are positively epic for the genre). It's just all forward momentum here, with Fifteen Dead having more muscle (see cool closing of "Wealth Of Nations") but less fun, haywire energy than Population Zero, end result being a bit of everything, both bands even threatening to leave a lasting impression, something crusty bands often lack.
