Break the Silence

The exploits of metal part-timer and grindcore extraordinaire Seth Putnam have become a matter of legend, or infamy depending on one's attitude towards the latter genre of music or their level of adoration towards equally controversial death metal pioneer turned death 'n' roll proponent Chris Barnes. By exploits, the intended meaning of the term is said Anal Cunt front man's role in expanding the sonic possibilities of extreme metal and particularly the high pitched shriek that is often associated with rawer strains of black metal and grindcore, as the man's few contributions to the metal world in an actual metal band border somewhere between inconsequential and mediocre. One might be tempted to chalk it up to his stints with a handful of thrash and death metal bands being lackluster on account of a poor choice in bands, but closer inspection of the works of Massachusetts based thrash outfits Post Mortem and Executioner reveal bands that had respectable, though perhaps less than genre-defining, stints in the studio prior to his entry into said folds. A close inspection to the latter of these two outfits proves to be the less blatant example of his influence downgrading a band's sound, but still a fairly clear example regardless.

In relation to the broader thrash metal world circa the mid-1980s, Executioner's sound comes off as extremely raw and chaotic, incorporating a heavier degree of primitive riff work that is more indicative of an intersection between early 80s hardcore and the low-fidelity speed metal that defined the early offerings of Venom and Sodom. By contrast, the vocal work of Marc Johnson has sort of a working class NWOBHM character to it, lacking the overt gruff that typified the Bay Area sound and the vile sepulchral persona of the early blackened sound of Europe's nascent extreme thrash alternative. Though this format served them fairly well on their debut offering, the same cannot be said on their sophomore outing Break The Silence in spite of the same production crew being attached. Part of this could be laid on the songwriting being a little less consistent, but the major culprit is the drums and particularly the cymbals being way too loud in the mix, drowning out what is generally a moderately impressive, if a tad choppy, riff and shredding lead guitar work. If the latter problem had been absent, this might have passed for a poor man's The Return... meets a poorer man's Stricken By Might, by a band that originally shared this one's name no less.

Differentiating between the various songs that round out this collective slab of mid-tier thrash gone wrong is largely an effort in splitting hairs between a few scant nuances, as the band operates on a fairly limited idea pool and often repeat themselves. Some of the longer efforts such as the opener "Death March" and the album's closer "Stand Up And Fight" almost feel like two songs conjoined into one given their somewhat abrupt shifts in feel and elongated slower paced moments, the former blasting away like it's anticipating Putnam's future grindcore efforts, the latter listening like a slightly more thrashing nod to Discharge. One thing can be clearly gleaned from Dan Scannell's drum performance on here, and that is by consequence of either Putman's influence or just his own initiative, he is finding himself in similar territory to Genocide/Repulsion drummer Dave Hollingshead (whether this New England outfit knew about the infamous Flint, Michigan grindcore pioneers in question or not when this was recorded is likely an open question). Most of the shorter material follows a similarly simple formula, with "Break The Silence" and "Your Life Is Over" offering the few respites from pure chaos for something a bit more mid-paced and organized.

On the many rungs of the thrash metal ladder, this is one that sort of rests on the bottom half, only really being a point of interest for those obsessed with Seth Putnam's non-Anal Cunt exploits. Suffice it to say, his input as a musician here is minimal at best, as few moments of distinction for the bass emerge from what is basically a drum and guitar dominated album, with the drums naturally getting far too much of the attention courtesy of amateur hour at the mixing booth. It's arguably in fitting company among the alumni of New Renaissance Records, which was generally known for carrying low-fi extreme metal during the 80s, but when matched up against the seminal offerings of outfits like At War and Wehrmacht, let alone the riveting and timeless blackened thrash classic Under The Sign Of The Black Mark, it comes up short even when discounting the engineering errors. Not all that glitters is gold, not all that are found were lost, and sadly not every offering from the heyday of 80s thrash metal was a certified classic. Even the curious who want to hear Seth Putnam as far removed from his grindcore antics as possible will probably pass on a second listen.

Sometimes I think that everything was better in the old days, but this is nostalgic nonsense. Even the golden eighties were full of catastrophes. Chernobyl, the Tiananmen Square massacre in China, earthquakes in Iran... the list is endless - and some cynics say that the list is not complete without the release of "Break the Silence". Quite frankly, I agree.

Executioner's vinyl is the grotesque caricature of a metal album. The song-writing is as terrible as a plane crash. The production sounds thin, atypically holey and miserable. I do not know the motivation behind the recordings, but I am almost sure the "musicians" wanted to make an attempt on the global metal scene. They tried to poison our tastes with this meaningless, uninspired and totally useless tracks. I do not intend to destroy the reputation of my most favourite sub genre, that's the reason why I do not write every letter of the word thr**h. It would be terrible to read such a fantastic word in a review for this pile of shit, because there exists absolutely no link between the here presented songs and the classics you are thinking about when it comes to thr**h. However, Executioner wanted to be a thr**h band, but they were just crummy wannabes. Usually, dudes of this kind do not even get the permission to be part of the road crew. Here are the painful details.

The choruses are absolute crap. No tinge of a melody, no memorable lines, nothing. I admit that "Your Life Is Over" sounds a little bit better than the other flops, but even this track does not reach a fairly good level. Okay, I further admit that the solos are really solos. What I mean is that they have nothing to do with the rest of the so-called songs. They are performed without any connections to the other parts. However, the worst is yet to come. Sometimes the "artists" want to show that they can play really fast. That's the point where the drummer decides to torture his snare drum as much as he can. It's that kind of velocity which is performed only for the sake of velocity. By the way, the rattling snare is one reason why the mix sucks. The guitars also fail, they are neither heavy nor massive. Believe me, it's a drama and the totally expressionless vocals do not add any value to the songs as well. But the main problem, no doubt about it, are the songs themselves. They are performed without any emotions, they do not possess any kind of surprising twists and turns and to call them simple is almost a euphemism. The meticulous design of the fabulous artwork reflects the accurate elaboration of the ten anti-songs. I never worshipped the God of complexity, but rather straight tunes need at least a good main riff. Too bad that Executioner ignore this iron law completely.

With publications like this one, New Renaissance Records demonstrated impressively that they were interested in committing commercial suicide. Crude gangs like Executioner deserved a kick in the ass, a glass of warm milk or some private lessons, but finally there is one good thing - that they broke the silence for the last time. It remained their farewell album. The dudes of NRR did me a favour and did not sign a further record deal with this shitty group. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that sounds like "Break the Silence" did not come back. No renaissance instead of New Renaissance. We do not want to face the next catastrophe.

"...blackened steel paints the fatal portrait..."

Boston’s Executioner’s are probably best known for having Anal Cunt’s Seth Putnam on bass. Other than that, zombie-like thrash with bursts of useless blast beats, uninteresting vocals that sound like pre-’83 Metallica, frenzied solos, and a percussion-heavy production is what awaits the listener, and isn’t one of New Renaissance’s shinier moments. Occasionally a moment of clarity will spark, either in the form of a solid riff stroke or intriguing structure, but there always seems to be something nearby, like the lousy vocal sound or an inappropriate cyclone beat, to extinguish it.

“Death March” is the quintessential Executioner track, incorporating all of the aspects mentioned above, and you’re in trouble if this track does nothing for you ‘cause it’s what the three-piece are all about, so you’ve basically wasted some bucks you could’ve spend on cotton candy or something else useless. The title cut tones down the velocity to a moderate pace and with the addition of a meandering riff have created something still rather uneventful. Dan Scannell’s hopeless blast beats are proponents to much of the mediocrity, but are remarkably weary in “Eye of the Needle”, and attempts to mix up the timing shifts with rhythm swings doesn’t save the track. Aside from about four seconds of semi-drama in the chorus, “Your Life is Over” is just too boring to dwell upon, and the dirge-like “Terminally Ill” is promising for the first minute, then when it fails to do anything except linger in that state, deflates any success.

There are a hundred reasons why you shouldn’t flip the disc...perhaps the tub needs regrouting, or…maybe, just maybe it gets better. Not really. “Hatred” and “Genocide” are overboard drums and meaningless aggression, but the latter actually manages to brew up a somewhat lively chorus. “No One Left to Die” raises a flag of potential and rightfully runs with it like some new discovery. Moderate and somewhat quick paces duel it out while one or two fairly catchy rhythms sail into an eventful chorus, making it a top tune. Back to oversold speed and the uncoordinated “Victims of Evil”…snoooorrrre. Finale “Stand up and Fight” is an anthem attempt that falls dying like a poor slob finally collapsing from dry desert heat.

The sorry fact is the band has little personality or identity, lacks vision and creativity, and is about a death throe or two away from being mindless in their delivery. Their sound is the property of truckloads of other bands even for '87, most of which are doing it better i.e. Coroner, Necrophagia, Death Angel, Hades, Heathen, and Infernal Majesty, but I always manage to run into someone who thinks Break the Silence is the best thing since the steam engine. Stay away from this unless you want to hear how good other crappy releases at the time are.