Earth Crisis
Neutralize The Threat

August 2011
Released: 2011, Century Media
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Demonator

As comeback records go, Earth Crisis' 2009 offering, TO THE DEATH, was just about as brash and hard-hitting a statement as any one of the acolytes who had been clamouring for their return could have hoped for. Delivering their firebrand message of veganism and straight edge living by way of some seriously abrasive hardcore, the Syracuse quintet had clearly not lost a step and in the process set the bar for a command performance very high indeed.



That NEUTRALIZE THE THREAT never quite gets there then isn't so much a criticism of their work this time round but rather a backhanded compliment to what the band were able to achieve two years ago. And let's be fair - under the watchful eye of producer Zuess, their sixth full length remains a formidable statement of intent. At times it even threatens to top its predecessor; most pointedly during the latter half of "Total War" where a masterfully crafted crescendo cracks into one of the most malicious breakdowns you will hear in 2011. So too do the band score big when they give into their experimental flair on "Raze" - a track that sandwiches purposefully discordant harmonies with a real fist-in-the-air chorus.



But elsewhere, NEUTRALIZE THE THREAT suffers from being too ordinary. With expectations raised so substantially it seems almost inevitable that this might be the case, but as a testament to what the band are capable of, you're left with the inescapable impression that perhaps their defining moment is still to come