While scouring the howling existential void we call the promo pit for a review to cleanse my palate after the 70 minutes of prog death I tackled in my last outing, the words “cross-over thrash” called to me. What could be more cleansing than some fast riffs and gang-shouted choruses? I even bemused aloud to the other writers that it might be fun to get some beef-witted, Victory Records circa 1996-style stomps. Why I thought that would be fun, I don’t know. It wasn’t even my style of choice when I was a ’90s hardcore kid, but I guess a couple of weeks pouring over prog death will do that to you. Toxic Society, the sophomore full-length from German hardcore/thrash band Drain Down, turns out to be everything I stupidly asked for. Am I angry and aimless enough to pick up what these Teutonic terrors are throwing down? Are you? Join me in the pit for some enthusiastic arm-flailing and high-minded discussion.
The two most immediate features of Toxic Society’s sound are its buzzsaw guitar tone and Ferdinand Panknin’s gruff vocal delivery. The former is appropriately scuzzy, but it’s a touch too far forward in the mix, and the entire production job is surprisingly scrubbed. As for Panknin, his limited range is squarely in the “tough guy hardcore” trope, where every word is shouted and clipped short like he’s being punched in the gut. While there’s certainly a thrashy component to the riffs and solos, especially on the blazing “Scams” and the hard-grooving “Political Animal,” this record leans heavily toward straight hardcore, especially in the verse/shouted chorus/verse structure. Case in point, the tough guy stomp of “Toxic Society” and “Stultus Populus” overpowers any thrashy nuance guitarist Heiko Kratz brings to the table.
This is a shame, since Kratz’s work throughout Toxic Society is precise and confident, whether it’s the halting, almost robotic riffing of “Zero Tolerance” or the ’80s-tastic widdly-widdly solo in “Toxic Society.” Taken alone, his riffs are effortless and varied, equally successful as thrash or hardcore. Unfortunately, once you hear Panknin stumble in like someone who has had just enough liquid courage to finally grab the mic at hardcore karaoke night, it’s hard to focus on anything else. I’ll admit that the style he goes for is one I’ve never enjoyed personally, but even within that style, his range is exceptionally limited and monotone. A more dynamic vocalist could really bring some of this material to life, but as things are, any energy the instruments bring is dampened significantly.
When it comes to content, I usually give some benefit of the doubt to non-native speakers and cut them slack for uninspired lyrics in English. Unfortunately, the songs and sentiments of Toxic Society are so on-the-nose for the style Drain Down plays, that it comes across like parody music you’d catch in the background of a video game or TV show. Bad things: society, politicians, social media. Right on, guys. I’m with you. What would you say is bad about these? “Corruption.” Cool, cool, yeah, but like, what specifically? “Uh… corruption.” And that’s about as deep as any of it gets. Even their incorporation of swear words feels canned and weirdly sterile. The chorus of “Political Animal,” which goes “Politi-cal ani-mal, greedy bastard pigs, politi-cal ani-mal, fat sadistic dicks, politi-cal ani-mal, spread your nasty lies, politi-cal ani-mal, well Je-sus fu-cking Christ,” drones over and over until you can’t wait to change songs.
Musically, Toxic Society is solid, if not always dynamic. As I’ve said, a different vocalist could change the impact of this drastically. Lyrically, if this was a car and I was a mechanic, I’d encourage the owner to sell it for 500 dollars to a scrap yard and start over with a new one. As for my choice of promos, be careful what you ask for, because you might get exactly that.
Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Black Sunset
Websites: draindown.de | facebook.com/draindown
Releases Worldwide: February 29th, 2024
