Superjoint Ritual - A Lethal Dose of American Hatred
- Released: 2003
- Label: Sanctuary Records
- Rating:
Just a year after their first release, Use Once and Destroy, Superjoint Ritual returns quickly with their sophomore effort entitled A Lethal Dose of American Hatred. I really enjoyed the band’s first effort. Although it became a bit repetitive, I still liked the intensity and speed of the music, and appreciated the tribute to the bands of old that it represented. However, I assumed that the album was going to be the first and last of Superjoint Ritual’s releases – sort of just a nostalgic release for the band members involved. Unfortunately I was wrong, and as I feared, the second release just doesn’t compare to the first.
The main problem I find with this album is that not only does it feel forced, it IS forced. A band shouldn’t release two albums within a year of each other, especially when the first contains sixteen tracks (eighteen if you count the two demo tracks) and the second contains thirteen. I’m not in a thrash band, so maybe it’s just incredibly easy to write thrash songs, but it still just feels like too much too soon. Secondly, Phil’s vocals feel uninspired throughout most of the album. His screams are still great, but in the fast, semi-clean vocals, he just sounds awful. Maybe this is another tribute to some old-school trash band. I hope so – it’d dishearten me to hear Phil’s voice going to shit.
This album does deserve credit, though. It varies a hell of a lot more than the original. The songs don’t have the exact same fast parts, nor do they all open with the same drumbeat, as with many of the songs on Use... Joe Fazzio again proves his skill on this album, offering up some great, heavy beats. Bower and Bond continue to play simple, pounding, fast guitar lines, with a few surprises every now and then. As mentioned before, Phil screams as well as ever here. I consider these five to be a supergroup of sorts, and they all do not disappoint, save for the weak clean vocals of Phil.
Overall, this album will please you if you’re just looking for more of the same from Superjoint Ritual. That fact is what causes me to dislike the album, however. Although more varied than the first album, it is still simply more of the same. Perhaps if the album was released a year later I’d be eager to hear more material from the band by then, but this is just too much. Maybe the members feel this is the type of music they should be playing and need to get it all out, or maybe Phil has decided to produce side-project albums left and right to give us the impression that we’ll never see Pantera again. Regardless, this album was rushed, and so I give my first negative review of a Phil Anselmo band’s work.
Link: superjointritual.com
Farlus | 09/02/2003