Review Summary: "“Are you ready to rock and roll?" “YEAAAH””
I didn't have many positive expectations going into Training for Utopia’s sophomore release “Throwing a Wrench in the American Music Scene”. After being severely unimpressed with their flavorless, dark, muddily produced metalcore debut “Plastic Soul Impalement” (an album which seemed intent on sounding as dark and painfully Christian as possible), I expected little another disappointment. However, Throwing a Wrench pleasantly surprised me by being more than I expected out of TFU as they threw away their metalcore sound for an industrial tinted hardcore groovefest.
Throwing a Wrench is brilliant for its content even without the comparison to TFU’s earlier works. Incorporating Industrial influences into their mix TFU come off as a completely new band. One of the most notable changes is that here they seem to be throwing off their dark and brooding sound in favor of a more carefree and less overblown style. This is best exemplified by the difference in the openers of their debut and this record as PSI started with a brewing and subdued track of static and ambient noise, screams and ominous whispering before bursting into chaotic metal tinged hardcore, while TAW starts off with the jubilant cheers of the eponymous “50,000 screaming tfu fans”, interposed with cut-outs of claims that rock n roll is the devils music, and leads to a breakdown in our society". A question is then asked, its resounding answer indicative of the whole album. “Are you ready to rock and roll?” “YEEEEEEEEAH”. And rock they do indeed as bog standard metalcore riffs are left behind in favor of leering, industrial, head-bobbing grooves.
That’s probably the most surprising thing about this record: it grooves. Riffs flow through this album that are just so primevally rhythmic and encapsulating that I just get lost in them. TFU know when they've come onto something good as well as they’re industrial influence often comes through with them digitally cycling good riffs, usually with some turntable noise/static or a repeated lyric from their vocalist. There is also a distinct change in style vocally as gone are mad, chaotic screams in turn of hoarse shouts, almost cynical and leering. This change is also represented in the lyrics with the lines like “I’m for sale” repeated in a bitingly sarcastic tone. Or the almost humorous track “White boys burden” the only lyrics being “Rat Tail, Swaggering, Limpin’ like a buckshot, WHITE BOY”.
TAW is proof that metalcore can be mixed with electronics smartly and concisely. Glitches, static, vocal manipulation and industrial noise veers in and out of punishing metalcore often enhancing a riff or giving a track a faintly digital hardcore feel, similar to that of Atari Teenage Riot if they weren't so over the top and annoyingly erratic. In comparison TAW is extremely focused, more so than their debut by any measure as tracks often follow a distinctly predictable albeit concise structure, with no little remaining of their chaotic styling’s. Furthermore, TFU show they're capable of writing slower more subdued tracks with the inclusion of the melodic acoustic track “Everything Including the Stars Is Falling” featuring the only sung vocals on the album. It makes a nice change of pace from the unrelenting aggression of the rest of the record, as vocalist Ryan Clark (who later went onto to play in Demon Hunter with his brother Don) has a genuinely pleasing singing voice, albeit a bit weak and unspectacular. However, even though this acoustic interlude makes a nice change of pace, it feels out of place in the context of the album overall.
TAW was electronic metalcore done right. Instead of the bright and poorly matched synth that so often maligns many current records, TFU fused their hardcore aggression with an industrial cartload of static, groovy basslines and turntable experimentation, resulting in an infinitely more interesting album that most core bands could only dream of creating. Somewhat marred by its one track production and the inclusion of a good but ill-fitting acoustic track, “Throwing a Wrench in the American Music Scene” lives up to its name as wrench throwing is probably the closest visual equivalent to this album possible.
