ALBUM REVIEW: I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn’t Work – Shock Narcotic

SHOCK NARCOTIC is an outfit that boasts quite the pedigree. This “super group” is compiled of musical nomads from some incredibly well respected bands, from all different corners of the heavy music spectrum, including guitarist Jeff Tuttle (formerly of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN), vocalist SHAWN KNIGHT (CHILD BITE), drummer Zach Gibson (ex-THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, SHIT LIFE) and bassist Don Slater (BATTLECROSS). The quartet have put together a furious debut of short bursts of brutal grindcore, entitled I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn’t Work. 

The first proper taste of music on the release comes with Erratic Smearing Vitals, which is as grotesque of a song as the title suggest. Instantly kicking up the energy levels and using them to pulverise the ear drums of the listener with a combination of ferocious, off kilter guitar riffs, impressively complex drum work and maniacal vocal work that would have Barney from NAPALM DEATH looking over his shoulder. This is the perfect way to introduce a band of this ilk and sets the tone for the rest of the release.

Seed Shooters picks up the baton and runs with it at full speed. The guitar tone chosen by Tuttle is as filthy and heavily distorted as you would hope to hear and the drum work is among the best that you will find on the entire release with the double bass pedals sounding almost mechanical as opposed to human made, however this is of little surprise when you consider the background in music that Gibson has.

Offspring Hobbled is one of the real highlights of the release and shows Knight putting on one of the performances of his career as he shifts from a Jacob Bannon-esque banshee scream at the beginning, through some almost melodic – relatively speaking – parts in the mid section, to low end barking towards the end of the track. The fact that he manages to take you through such a dynamic range in one track is quite the impressive feat, especially when you bear in mind that the entirety of the song is 43 seconds from start to finish. the track that follows on from this Smegma In The Shape Of A Man ensures that the focus is still very much on the quirky and off brand vocal delivery from Knight as he moves from spoken word to guttural vocals at the flip of a hat.

In the back end of the album is the track Failure As Tradition, which gives Slater a chance to show his keen ear for tone. The deep, dirty bass guitar sound that he delivers at the outset of the song could quite easily fit in to a sludge metal outfit and plays well against the hardcore punk influenced drum fills to take the song in a fresh and unexpected direction. Ensuring that the audience is kept well and truly on its tones even at such a late stage of the release.

SHOCK NARCOTIC have more than lived up the expectations that were placed upon them and certainly made a statement with this debut release. I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn’t Work is the kind of album that has enough layers that you will be discovering new parts on every listen and will prove to be devastating when the band hit the road later in the year.

Rating: 8/10

I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn’t Work is set for release August 16th via Housecore Records. 

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