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| Fight The World |
On September 12, 2015, my cousin died. Jamie was more than a cousin to me. He and his siblings were like brothers and sisters to me due to how we grew up.
Jame and Al were constant sources of new artists for me. From them, I learned about Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Metallica, Morbid Angel, Carcass, Napalm Death, Iron Maiden, and countless other bands.
Jamie died the day after Slayer's last album, Repentless, was released. It's funny, but one of the first things I thought of was, I hope he got a chance to hear that new Slayer record before he left us.
Well, that answer I don't have.
But, in the early 90's, before I'd ever grown out my hair, seen a show, smoked anything extra-legal, or even enjoyed a beer or a bourbon, Jamie introduced me to an indie band called Crucible. The next week, I saw them open for Agnostic Front and I picked up a T-Shirt and a cassette tape. (It was the 90s.) That was my first introduction to independent music.
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| Motive |
Not too long after that, I was introduced to a new independent band from the St. Louis suburbs that was full of fearsome metal: Travail.
Travail was a different band. Gone was the heavy Metallica influence, especially all over the vocals. The Hetfield grunts were all over the Crucible tracks. Instead, we're now treated to intelligible death metal growls and a single track sung by the lead guitarist.
These two bands had a member in common: Steven Buschart.
Buschart was a close friend of my cousins: Jamie and Al. So, it could be said that we had a contact friendship. When visiting those guys, they just inserted me into their lives and took me around as though I was always there.
That was the best part about spending time with those guys.
While watching the Blues and Red Wings in the Stanley Cup playoffs one year, I was told that Buschart had picked up and moved to Florida. That was the last I'd heard of him for many years.
When Jamie died.... A very, embarrassingly drunk me....who was Brett Hull drunk...began reconnecting, if only by the magic and glamour of social media. So, facebook friends!
At that time, I began seeing posts about Buschart's latest project: Motive.
It's not like I ever stopped listening to Travail, so something new was exciting to me. Then...that doubt crept in.
There's always about 50 different things I'd like to purchase, and looking back at Crucible and Travail...if you take them in order, yes, there was some really great movement forward and that has nothing to do with the style.
The former was an amateur records written and recorded by kids. The latter, was a great proto death metal record written in the heyday of death metal...however that works.
In the end, it was obvious to me that I had to hear this album. Cousin Al tells me he has a present for me, then I see him and he says, I don't have it anymore. The demand for the motive CD was too high. So...I don't get a free copy.
I just say, meh, I'll just buy the thing.
Then, not much longer after that, the vinyl announcement came. Now, it's serious.
Today, I've got the record in my hands. It's had a spin on my home system and my officeg system. I suppose for the trifecta, it should get a spin on the downstairs home system too...but my Gloria 12" is still on the platter down there.
So, what sort of a difference does the better part of two decades make?
Apparently, it can really do some wonders for someone who's continued to move forward with music. Unlike Crucible, that sounded like an attempt at recreating Metallica's style and Travail, that was an attempt to get in on the Death Metal revolution, Motive doesn't really sound like anything else to my ears.
It also falls stylistically between those two bands. It's Death Thrash...or Thrashing Death.
Once the needle fell into the grooves and Thrash Priest came flying out, it was pretty clear where this record is going.
That track is completely indicative of what this record is going to give to you. About a third of the time, it's straight thrash, about a third of the time, it's death metal.
But then there's that other third of the record that's kind of both at the same time.
That's when this gets great. Motive is able to deftly stand with a foot in both camps. Death Metal is really just third wave thrash anyway right?
What if we had a missing link between those two worlds that never took a side and instead drinks beers with the both of them?
There really aren't any superlatives that can be lauded that will really do the job. At no point while listening to Fight The World did I start thinking, oh here's the Testament influence or here's the Master influence.
If you buy one extreme metal album this year, make it Fight The World by Motive.
Release 7/12/19 BANDCAMP FACEBOOK
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