La New York della seconda metà degli anni '80 è una fabbrica di gruppi durissimi, spesso votati a quella fusione di hardcore punk e thrash metal chiamata crust punk: possiamo citare fra gli altri Agnostic Front, Madball, Sick Of It All, più avanti i fenomenali Biohazard (anche se votati al crossover), oltre naturalmente al gruppo in questione, i meno famosi Nausea.
Formatisi nel 1985, come la stragrande maggioranza delle band hardcore non ha avuto lunga vita; si è sciolta sette anni dopo, nel '92, lasciando un LP ("Extinction", del 1990) e due 7", "Cybergod" e "Lie Cycle". L'album recensito è la prima di due antologie postume uscite nel 2004, dedicata al secondo periodo della band (1988/1992), quello successivo all'entrata del secondo cantante Al Long, che affianca la fondatrice Amy Miret.
Con la sua entrata, la band inizia a evolversi dalla semplice bordata hardcore, sperimentando un sound più lento e cadenzato, più oscuro, spesso vicino allo sludge e al doom metal ("Extinction") senza tuttavia tralasciare le sfuriate iperveloci tipiche del crust caratterizzate dalla voce acidissima della Miret ("Johhny Got His Gun" e "Godless", per fare due esempi). I Nausea, tuttavia, si distinguono dal calderone hardcore per la loro voglia di sperimentare, il loro rimescolare le carte a disposizione, che non sono poi molte, ma certo sono ben giocate; non mancano, inoltre, "assi" che non ti aspetti, come il reggae metallizzato di "Sacrifice". In ogni caso, sia nei pezzi più doomeggianti, sia nei D-beat, i Nausea pestano durissimo: merito della sezione ritmica, composta dal batterista Roy Mayorga (in seguito in decine di gruppi, tra cui Soulfly, Sepultura, Stone Sour, ma anche nella reunion degli Amebix, per restare in campo Crust punk) e dal bassista John John Jesse, fra le altre cose famoso illustratore dello stile di vita punk e disegnatore delle copertine degli album degli Agnostic Front. Sui testi e le tematiche affrontate dal gruppo, invece, non c'è molto da dire: non si discostano molto dalla tendenza delle band punk e thrash metal dell'epoca di dipingere scenari apocalittici ispirandosi alla guerra fredda e alla costante minaccia nucleare ("Fallout"), senza ovviamente disdegnare il caro vecchio attacco a Reagan. Va detto, inoltre, che i Nausea furono tra i primi a parlare dello strapotere della tecnologia, anticipando certi scenari cyberpunk che saranno tanto cari a band come i Fear Factory ("Tech-No-Logic-Kill", "Cybergod", "Electrodes").
Insomma, un prodotto validissimo, un'antologia molto ben costruita di un gruppo non dico fondamentale, ma che sicuramente molti di voi troveranno interessante.
Elenco tracce testi e video
03 Body of Christ (04:36)
since the sun first shot it's rays across the sky
a darkness crept into mankind's wretched soul
in fear the weak first spawned the sanctimonious lie
that grew within their hearts demanding to control
from the void within their minds arose a fearsome god
cowering upon their knees they began a reign of guilt
jealously they coveted the freedom they once knew
but could not cast off the chains of servitude they'd built
for two thousand years or maybe more
the sacrificial blood has been shed
to appease the so-called Saviour
they pile high the corpses of the dead
their holy water cannot wash away
the price of freedom stained upon their hands
and the fear of their Judgement Day
it spread across the distant lands
our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy shame
thy kingdom come, the blood will run, enslaved on earth as in heaven
heal the blind so they will see
that their salvation is not for free...sinner!
the depth of their intolerance none can ever tell
thus began the inquisition
and the non-believers freedom they call the heathen's hell
the foundations of religious persecution
and those who seek, will surely find
and prey upon, those left behind.
04 Fallout (Of Our Being) (01:47)
Destitute populations
Diseased minds
Censored opinions
Dwelling on time
Are people really blind
Or just absent of their minds
A continuous pattern towards
The fallout of our very being
And when at war
Soldier kills soldier
It’s man killing mankind
I ask you why?
Why life must go to such a waste?
Are people really blind
Or just absent of their minds
A continuous pattern towards
The fallout of our very being
And when at war
Soldier kills soldier
It’s man killing mankind
I ask you why?
Why life must go to such a waste?
Are people really blind
Or just absent of their minds
A continuous pattern towards
The fallout of our very being
08 Godless (01:46)
Take your religious chains
you don't own my soul
you've tried to soak our brains to waste
with holy water in a silver bowl
beware of your godhood
for soon they shall rebel
you've stabbed us with your sacred cross
and blessed us with this living hell
lord, god, father and son
your pious solve their problems with their guns
lord, god, father and son
why must I hang upon a cross for the sins I've never done
beware of your godhood
for soon they will rebel
we'll break your chains
I'll not burn in your living hell.
09 Clutches (03:01)
I am the non-creator
for man has created his own lord
I am the anti-master
for this lord god rules with a blood stained sword
their slavery is based on deception
their chains are tightly bound
the holders of the keys
shall lock us to the ground
the power for the people
not for their promised land
the power for the people
their utopia shall crumble into sand
the created god on which you rely
shall rule you until you die
the "book" continues to hold them
but still never questioned why
would you allow your life to be taken
by the clutches of just one hand?
would you allow your life to be taken
by the clutches of just one man?
would you ever understand what their lies are about?
will you ever understand?!!!
10 Extinction (06:51)
the world is growing weaker
with the passing of each day
riding the westwinds
the fetid stench of decay
resources dwindle into the consumerist machine
as mechanical vultures pick
the carcass of our world clean
extinction
from the rot man has sown
he must now reap the seeds
the fruit of his labor
hunger and disease
we now cling to this dust
like flies, crawling on carrion
whose infertile soils are fit
only to bury in
extinction
as our dying breath is released to the wind
the innocent lie
with those who have sinned
their meaningless lives
have long been forgotten
as the cycle rebirth
starts to begin
a new day will dawn
through the rising of smoke
of civilizations shattered dreams and hopes
new life will rise from mankind's fall
whose corpses will feed
on the barren dead soil.
14 Blackened Dove (03:01)
reconstructing humyn nature for procurement and self promotion
refining the skills that will exact humyn demotion
with the segregating strength of the stigmata issued
we create the carriers of our wrath
innocence abused
the persecuted harbor bigots' sour venom
masses fill the scapegoat roles in the social procession
objectives first in mind
tools carved for the trade
sociopathic megalomaniacs
the by-products we create
freedom taken
ignorance remains
a blackened dove
is a dove the same
profited by this existence of expendable nature
gambling with the tokens of sex, class and color
population of oppressors
we rest assure
by paragons of despot
so greedily nurtured
restrained and maintained by the strings held above
in the record grooves of our minds
we blame a blackened dove
exploitive shield over the eyes
remains only with permission of an ignorant mind
the hope for freedom is always darkened
by those who replace love for hate in the controls of our lives
enlighten your minds
recognize their devices
freedom is a truth that lays just beyond their lies.
15 Johnny Got His Gun (01:50)
maimed and mangled on a battlefield
you've got no arms
the nightmare's real
your face and legs have been blown away
a useless stump
you're thrown astray
in greater wars
when each proud fight brags
they war on death for lives
not for men but for flags
mother sings her songs of woe
father turns
doesn't want to know
your family has been torn apart
by a piece of meat with a purple heart.
16 Butchers (02:20)
Through all your research there's still no cure for a Disease like you
Ulcerated eyes show no glimmer of life
Nor do they reflect the pain inflicted by your knife
They're cancerous and bleeding
Better off dead
Vivisectionist you must be sick in the head
He's a contract killer for the company
To see how their products will effect you and me
The gruesome way in which these animals die
Makes you wonder what's in the products that you buy
From dogs forced to smoke your cigarettes
To the monkeys that suffer electrical shocks
Their crying eyes plead from inside a cage
Tortured because they'll never talk.
17 Tech-No-Logic-Kill (06:04)
Engines of destruction lurch into gear
our destiny driven by greed and by fear
progress, the bitter sweet pill we must taste
alone we’re exiled to an earth laid to waste
with our very blood we must fuel the machine
the resultant carnage is fucking obscene
madmen rush in where the sane fear to tread
like cattle to slaughter we are willingly led
still born we lie cold and dead in our world
a womb made of concrete and steel
lifeless mankind has become obsolete
prey of tech.no.logic.kill.
the reaper of death is a silicone brain
the last plague is progress leperous reign
from master to slave we soon shall fall
tech.no.logic.kill. is consuming us all
a predestined hell unleashed by man’s own hand
eating away irreplaceable land
displaced native people become refugees
they crawl to the axe on hands and knees
ground under the wheels of the microchip age
lost in the translation we just turn the page
still born we lie cold and dead in our world
a womb made of concrete and steel
lifeless mankind has become obsolete
prey of tech.no.logic.kill.
the reaper of death is a silicone brain
the last plague is progress leperous reign
from master to slave we soon shall fall
tech.no.logic.kill. is consuming us all
Engines of destruction lurch into gear
our destiny driven by greed and by fear
progress, the bitter sweet pill we must taste
alone we’re exiled to an earth laid to waste
as the sands of time are scattered
to the winds of fate
one looks back and wonders
if it’s a little too late
like parasites we slowly suck
the life out of our host
devouring for profit
we’ve destroyed what’s worth the most
as sickness spreads across the world
the sign of modern times
multinationals commit
environmental crimes
protected by a web of beurocratic red tape and lies
we’ve made laws which will insure mankind’s demise
the earth becomes more intolerable
and hostile day by day
the fools just say that it’s god’s will
and kneel down to pray.
18 Sacrifice (04:13)
equal rights and justice
a dream we must make true
without a ruling nation
free of racist fools
let nature make the boundaries
not power drunken scum
who kill for greed and profit
our lives ruled by their guns
how many lives today will the system take away?
in the name of their bloodlust and power hungry ways
if you're looking for the truth
all you'll find is lies
another cover up
another rebel crucified
he questioned their authority
they stole away his life
riddled full of bullets
for opening people's eyes
the papers gave their stories
of how peter tosh had died
but the people know the real truth
they won't believe those lies
don't get to close
you'll be next on their list
CIA death squads make another hit
government and murder going hand in hand
like Hitler and his nazis
here comes the final plan
another rebel dies so their system can survive
they stop the people's rise by feeding them more lies
another sacrifice so their shitstem shall survive
they blind the people's eyes with their politricks and lies
another rebel dies so their hatred will survive
they shut the people's cries with murder and with lies.
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