“STRESS TEST” — AN NCS SONG PREMIERE AND A REVIEW OF THE ALBUM

(On February 28th Transylvanian Recordings will release the self-titled debut album by Stress Test from Portland, Oregon. What we have for you today is Todd Manning‘s review of the album and our premiere of its title song.)

With all the blends of sub-genres that make up the metal world today, grindcore and old-school thrash metal is a combination that doesn’t often pop up. But Portland’s Stress Test make it sound natural, like we all should’ve been doing this all along.

After a brief intro, “Degrees of Violence” vomits forth a tirade of crust and blast beats. The song is 30 seconds long, as it should be, and is awesome in all the standard grind kind of ways. “Coward” follows and at first glance seems similar to what came before. But there are moments that upon closer examination have a thrash feel.

“Eternal Bliss” are where things get interesting. The song bounces between blast beats and riffs pulled from thrash’s darker corners — think early Exodus or Nuclear Assault. “It Isn’t Real” retains this vibe and adds a bit of melodic guitar work into a similar mix.

“Suffer” is probably the most explicitly thrash song of the album; the circle-pit-inducing main riff wouldn’t sound out of place on Vio-lence’s Oppressing the Masses, a classic of Bay Area circle-pit-inducing thrash. The song goes other places including a clean guitar break with voice snippets playing underneath,  but the mood is undeniable.

The back half of the release leans more toward the thrash side of things, but the grindcore material always makes its presence felt. “God Sucks” sounds like Nasum in a knife fight with Death Angel. The appropriately titled “Stress Test” (which we’re premiering today) opens with a thrash riff worthy of comparison with classic Metallica but then finds its way to a Slayer-inspired breakdown. “Something Rather Than Nothing” closes out the album strong. The feel is a bit more epic but the pit wouldn’t relax for this one either.

Fast and heavy can be done in a myriad of ways, and Stress Test have zeroed in on a style that is as catchy as it is devastating. And if there’s one thing for sure, this deserves to be heard in a live setting. This album takes me back to the early days of the pit, back to the days where I wouldn’t be so sore if I jumped in. Those days are long past but if I get to see Stress Test, maybe I will give it one more round.

Today we bring you the premiere of the eponymous track, “Stress Test”.  It’s a pair of words that feel appropriate, if not understated, for the world we live in today. Bassist/vocalist Brandon Hill had this to say about the song:

“Thanks to our growing dependence on the modern technology that ostensibly exists to improve our lives, we are bombarded with more bullshit than ever. Manufactured outrage abounds, opinions are presented as indistinguishable from facts, and even the information that matters is beamed into our brains in a way that is designed to manipulate emotions, maximizing ‘engagement’ and increasing advertising revenue. We are the dopamine-addicted products being sold, and we willingly sacrifice our time living in virtual spaces where algorithms will determine what we believe about the real world.” 

PRE-ORDER:
https://transylvanianrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/stress-test

STRESS TEST:
https://www.stresstest.us/
https://www.facebook.com/stresstestpdx
https://www.instagram.com/stresstestpdx