"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> MONGREL
DECLAMATION EP
By: Rotten
What can I say about MONGREL? A band who's career I have followed since discovering them way back in 2008, become pals with Adam Savage, and having my own music featured in a movie with them. Recently they have had a few line up changes, Including getting a female vocalist on board, a bold move for such a Hardcore PUNK band, and this new EP certainly stands to show us the band have not lost any of their bite, aggression, or tunes in the shake up.
DECLAMATION kicks off with START THE RIOT, a blasting intro which grabs you from noteone, serving as the main riff, I would call this their MC5 song, as it really reminded me of Kick Out The Jams, until the verses kicked in with such a tune fullness, held back refined sound. AMERIKKKAN WAY is the second tune, this is full on pure metal/ Punk noise reminiscent of Black Flag, with vocalist Jess really showing off her credentials to front such an aggressive sounding band - she can really do it, and don't just take my word for it, go take a listen. ALL COMING DOWN has some interesting Punky Vocals and also some 'real' singing which is uncharacteristic for this style of music, which is helping to set MONGREL apart from a lot of the so called Metal / Punk crossover acts of today - those who think guttural screaming and pig squealing coupled with Emo lyrics does the job - (sorry to those bands, it doesn't). The good thing here is as a group of musicians, MONGREL can pull it off, and pull it off well. DIG UP HER BONES is my favorite song on this EP - this is very BEKI BONDAGE's VICE SQUAD, (the new version, not the old), who I am a huge fan off, in fact listening to this it could be Beki and Paul Rooney performing this.........IT'S THAT GOOD. Final track, FUCKED IT ALL AWAY is to my ears musically like METALLICA circa 1983 , adding in a tuneful sing-a-long chorus, If you like, This is MONGREL's "Master Of Puppets", albeit without all the boring long intro Stuff....
To sum up, having heard all Mongrel's previous releases, This new EP is an extension of their repertoire, showing where they are now, and why they have been called Boston, Massachusetts's hardest working band. and deservedly so.