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Album Review

36 Crazyfists – “Time And Trauma” [Album Review]

The latest release from Anchorage/Portland rockers 36 Crazyfists is not just a masterful balance of virtuosic metal riffs, beat-em-up breakdowns and hardcore punk attitude; it is a textbook example of what I wish metalcore still was.

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I’ve always loved punk, ever since I was a little kid. When I was a teenager and I discovered hardcore punk, I was absolutely delighted. I think it was the anger and frustration ever-present in my adolescent psyche that drew me to, as my elders referred to it, “scary music.” I loved how aggressive it was, I loved how it made me feel validated, and I loved how it really just made me feel like I could beat the shit out of anyone.

I’ve subjected you to this aside about my childhood because that’s exactly where Time and Trauma took me. The latest release from Anchorage/Portland rockers 36 Crazyfists is not just a masterful balance of virtuosic metal riffs, beat-em-up breakdowns and hardcore punk attitude; it is a textbook example of what I wish metalcore still was.

The focus of most songs on the album stray farther towards the “core” end of metalcore than the “metal” end, and it’s just delightful. “Lightless” and “Translator,” because of both Brock Lindow’s lyricism and the marvelous arrangement underneath them, ooze the emotive energy that is absent from the more death-growl and drop-C breakdown-centric staples of the genre. Drummer Kyle Baltus shines on every track on the album, whether he’s tearing it up in the pocket or carrying a compound-signature breakdown.

The last track on the album, “Marrow,” is your standard poppy metal duet with a female vocalist (Stephanie Plate from Thera), yet even so is a wonderfully-written track that, in the right lighting, inspires a major case of the feels. The title track, “Time and Trauma,” along with “11.24.11” and “Vanish,” are also well-crafted, yet kind of run of the mill, metal tracks that are at the same time impressive and a tiny bit bland.

All in all, Time and Trauma is a great release that, while not the most original or groundbreaking album, is still chock full of amazing tunes and gets the job done in regard to making you want to scream and fight somebody. Buy it. Do it now.

Track Listing:

01. Vanish
02. 11.24.11
03. Sorrow Sings
04. Lightless
05. Time And Trauma
06. Also Am I
07. Translator
08. Silencer
09. Slivers
10. Swing The Noose
11. Gathering Bones (feat. Kelly Acone)
12. Marrow (feat. Stephanie Plate)

Run Time: 56:29
Release Date: February 17, 2015

Check out the song “Also Am I” here.

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