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Machete Justice: Reversion
Machete Justice: Reversion
Modern Heavy/Groove Metal
3.0/5.0
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Independent/Unsigned
by Craig Hartranft, 02.20.2012
I feel New Zealand's Machete Justice may be more than a little conflicted in their approach to modern heavy metal. Their short album, less than 30 minutes, Reversion offers a typical approach to modern trends: thrash, speed, and the harshness of hardcore vocals. But it also offers more accessible groove metal and some very authentic melodic clean vocals.
Above, Machete Justice: somebody stole Bono's big bug eye sunglasses.
One wonders if the former is for commercial appeal, to appease the modern audience, the youngsters that don't know better. The latter is there to prove that MJ can do metal old school style with a hint of modern flair, and so appealing to us 'oldsters' who DO know better. Sometimes it's mixed together as on South of the Border which, of course, both confuses the point and, generally, proves my opening statement.
Fundamentally, excepting the acoustic guitar conclusion of Waiata Ua, six of the eight songs here are garden variety modern metal, with a few flairs, but mostly harsh with 'core' vocals. The better songs are laced with melody and groove, and clean(er) vocals, being Devil In My Veins (Again) and The Ballad of Bubba J. White.
Despite my reservations, thanks to the hardcore elements, notably in the vocals, I still think Machete Justice is pursuing something quite good and, possibly, novel and entertaining. Give them a better than average score because they have the potential to be modern melodic metal giants. Check them out.
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In Short
Machete Justice is modern heavy, sometimes groove, metal. Taking their cue from commercial trends, the music is laced with harshness, especially from the 'core' vocals. Yet, there's something strangely appealing about them.
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