News.RttP{Coming this Summer from OBSCENITY CULT RECORDS: DEATHAMPHETAMINE "THE LOST ALBUM"}

With The Lost Album, Deathamphetamine continue their genre-bending sojourn with ten tracks of aural intensity. Blurring the lines between metal and punk, they manage to take catchy rock hooks and brutalize them into unrelenting blast-laden thrash metal. While they may wear their influences (and their Trekkerdom) on their sleeves, Deathampetamine’s The Lost Album is a welcome rarity in a galaxy of monotony.

The album has the tongue-in-cheek sense of humor one might expect from punk rock. This is established immediately during the obligatory intro track, which features a goofy montage of lo-fi samples off of a cassette. The samples give way to a minute and a half of blistering metal, setting the pace for the rest of the album. Tracks are generally short, reminiscent in structure of eighties crossover thrash/thrash punk. They hit you hard and leave you wanting more.

Taking from such disparate sources as Bay Area thrash, early American hardcore, heavy metal, black metal, and death metal, Deathamphetamine is one of those rare bands that can blend many obvious influences into cohesive and original music. Tracks like “Dactyl Nightmare” squeeze brutal death metal riffage, and d-beat style hardcore into a punishing minute and a half. “More Sauce for the Goose” opens with Exhumed-like grinding before transitioning into a section of octave-chord American hardcore. And, while it might sound like the riffs are all over the place, every transition is seamless. That cohesiveness is a testament to Deathamphetamine’s musicianship and songwriting. The impeccable drumming leaves no transitional awkwardness, the songs are thought out and the playing is tight. The vocals also lend themselves well to the cross-genre experience. Blackened raspy vocals dominate, but are balanced with guttural lows, an occasional falsetto and a couple of moments of gruff singing.

Throughout The Lost Album, Deathampetamine set themselves apart from the often generic bands coming out of the current resurgence in thrash metal. Their genuine sense of humor is certainly not a shoddy attempt to cover up regurgitated Metallica riffs. And when you reach the end, and you find yourself rocking out to a super secret Misfits cover, you may be surprised, but chances are you will listen to The Lost Album over and over again.

--Eric Struth