Year: 2022
Total Time: 43.02
Label: Relapse Records
25 years, almost a whole generation, have passed by since the last studio work of the Canadian Speed Metallers RAZOR, (the weak for my ears and not only mine, I guess) “Decibels” of 1997. And if in the ‘80’s they had emerged as heroes of Speed/ Thrash, being part of an untested but realistic quartet, together with VOIVOD, EXCITER and ANVIL, in the relentless ‘90’s, those who didn’t want to evolve, were crushed by the oblivion of time. And if we exclude a bad parenthesis –a health issue of the main composer, Dave Carlo, with a happy ending- and thanks, mainly, to the spread of the Internet in the early ‘00s, an interest was created for the band. That interest resulted in the release of “Cycle Of Contempt”.
From the very beginning, the fan’s scream that can be heard in “Flames Of Hatred” tries to spread the word that RAZOR is back. And this is partly true. We will hear strong guitar leads and dynamic riffs in “Crossed” and “Punch Your Face In” (here we will also hear some ridiculous lyrics, to say the least) and in the opening “Flames Of Hatred” the speeds emerge as a constant of the record. I’ve always considered -and I’m not the only one- RAZOR as a band that didn’t take itself that seriously and was a step up from the crazies of their like-minded peers. We will meet this “negligence” here, too, except that now the 80’s are gone and the 20-somethings have become 50-somethings. It’s not fair to be debauched like this. It’s been a while since I heard a chorus as ridiculous as that of “Jabroni”, or such a forced attempt at humor, as in “Off My Meds” and I still don’t understand why the last song “Shit King”, which is exactly what is described, made the list.
I don’t know why the singer Bob Reid was chosen. Maybe because he is a good friend of the band and a loyal fan. I hadn’t listened to such an one-dimensional and flat singer, with the same tone in every song except “Shit King”, which cannot be described. Also, the production is mediocre, the sound of the drums is an uninterrupted fuss, the Hi Hat overshadows everything, the two guitars too far back, the vocals more forward than they should be. We are in 2022 and now home studios can make decent productions, especially since the album was worked on during the quarantine period, so there was plenty of time. And I really wonder how this work was released by Relapse. Unless they were in a good mood and made a concession for old time’s sake, I don’t know what other explanation to give, maybe just the fact of Dave Carlo’s illness and his insistence on writing some music, I take my hat off to him.
Cycle Of Contempt” is nowhere near the classics “Evil Invaders” and “Violent Restitution”, it’s several steps down. RAZOR have tried to get back into the game by keeping some of their original elements, but I don’t think they’ll win over new fans with this release. Maybe they will hit the road again, for live shows, but by performing songs from “Cycle Of Contemption” they will hardly find business proposals to continue.
Rating: 5/10
Editor: Dimos Karadimos
Related Link: RAZOR-Official Page
