Axewield- Wisdom of Doom 12” (2010) [revised]
While not quite on the level of Iron Maiden v. Judas Priest or The Beatles v. The Rolling Stones, for a brief moment in the early 2000s one could speak of a Zoe v. Effigy rivalry for the hearts of hundreds of metal-crazed Japanese crust fans. What Dark Master was conducting the orchestra at your shredded-clothing axe-feast? Effigy’s Grinding Metal Massacre or Zoe’s From Hell? I always preferred Zoe, and their Last Axe-Beat LP holds up reasonably well, while Effigy’s other material (the Evil Fragments 12” and a split 10” with Hellshock) never had the same impact. In point of fact the better band of the two was… A.G.E.
Anyways, Axewield is ex-Effigy, and I don’t think anything would have been lost had this record been released under the Effigy name. Having said that, and that the musical style is completely dominated by an (even more pronounced) Amebix influence, I will have exhausted the sonic description possible here. Oh, and there’s 4 songs.
I’ve never liked Amebix and I have no affection for Amebix clones the way I do for Discharge clones. This is not simply a matter of taste. While the Discharge sound is an indelible contribution to punk, influencing bands all across the world in a reasonable variety of national styles—Poison Idea, Gauze, the Wretched, Terveet Kadet—Amebix are merely a lifestyle band. Their important stylistic contribution does not even belong to them, but to Killing Joke. And their fantasy, primitivist aesthetic lacks all of the charm and off-kilter English humor of, say, Rudimentary Peni. Politically speaking, the LAST thing we need is “primitivism” and Hobbit fashion. For my 80s metal-punk fix, I always preferred Hellhammer, Bolt Thrower, later Anti-Cimex, and early Napalm Death. I will probably never listen to Sacrilege, Antisect, Deviated Instinct, English Dogs, or Concrete Sox again. Neither should you.
Why then, why, why, would you buy this clone band’s record? I can think of none why you *should*, but here are a few reasons why you *might* do so,.
1) You have forgotten that the peak of the Crust War era was 2002-2004.
2) You confused the stolen Metallica riffs on Effigy’s good songs with creativity.
3) You thought “doom metal” was a cool trend and are glad to see it cross over into hardcore punk under the guise of an Amebix influence.
4) Love of synthesizers.
5) Love of the same guitar solo in every song.
I don’t know how to put this otherwise. Regardless of the style or the label or the ex-members, there simply are not any good riffs here. The aesthetic is so ripped-off and charmless and obvious that anyone who buys this record knowing all of the above, ought in fact be delighted with what they hear. After all, it “sounds like Amebix.”
In conclusion, let me say that I have this on my iTunes, and when it is over (it’s short), the next band up is Born Dead Icons. Now, BDI is far from a favorite of mine, but they sound like the fucking Clash next to Axewield. They positively leap out of the speakers in comparison.
