ALBUM REVIEW: Unsilent Death (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nails

If you’re a fan of hardcore at its most straight-up violent, chances are you’re already pretty keen on NAILS. The California-based group are one of the most respected of a whole host of bands who’ve taken to injecting death metal and grindcore influences into their own brand of savage hardcore punk. Since their formation in 2009, they’ve released a string of critically-acclaimed records. 2016’s You Will Never Be One Of Us, the band’s most recent full-length, marked a particular high point for many. Since then, with the exception of a couple of seven inch EPs, we haven’t heard all that much from NAILS. Now, rather than a follow-up to You Will Never Be One Of Us, the band return with a 10th anniversary reissue of their debut full-length, Unsilent Death.

While some may have been hoping for new music, it’s still fun to be reminded of just how savage NAILS have always been. Even with ten years’ evolution in the world of heavy music, Unsilent Death feels just as abrasive, oppressive and intense as it did when it first came out. The band do give listeners two previously unreleased tracks as well, both from the original Unsilent Death recording sessions. The reissue also features three tracks from NAILS‘ 2012 Obscene Humanity seven inch. These additional songs have been remixed by the legendary Kurt Ballou, and mastered by Nick Townsend. On the other hand, the record’s original ten tracks remain untouched. To be honest, they don’t need it. Produced by Ballou in the first place, they once again mark him out as a master when it comes to this kind of music.

Even with the addition of five new tracks, this record passes by in a flash. All but three of the songs are less than two minutes long. Some barely reach 30 second. That doesn’t stop NAILS giving listeners value for money however. Every song on Unsilent Death tears from idea to idea at a nausea-inducing pace. Each stop along the way is so violently heavy that many probably couldn’t take much more than its 23-minute runtime. Fortunately, NAILS have always understood the importance of brevity when it comes to music as heavy as theirs. As a result, Unsilent Death does a great job of keeping listeners interested, even if there isn’t much dynamic variation.

One track which really hits home how much NAILS can do in such a short space of time is Traitor. At just 28 seconds, the album’s sixth track is the shortest song on the record. It opens with a short sharp blast of grind, before tearing into a blistering D-beat section. After this, NAILS drop to a crushing breakdown, another blast of grind, before ending on a final pummelling riff. Obviously, the band don’t stay in any one of these places for long at all, but the fact that Traitor still feels like a fleshed out song is pretty impressive.

As good as they are at creating sheer chaos, NAILS are arguably at their best when they give listeners a little more to grab onto. Songs like Suffering Soul, I Will Not Follow, and the title track are prime examples. These tracks are a little longer, and feature more mid-paced, bouncier sections which seem lifted straight out of the ENTOMBED playbook. Pretty much anytime NAILS go into this territory it works well, especially on the title track’s final punishing breakdown. Also noteworthy is Unsilent Death’s tenth track, Depths, whose slower, sludgier sections mark the most significant change of pace on the whole record.

It’s fair to say that the additional tracks on this reissue don’t add loads. The two previously unreleased songs, Leech and Enemy, fit comfortably with the rest of the tracks on the record. Both are unsurprisingly vicious, crushing and chaotic. The latter is particularly overwhelming, with  jaw-droppingly fast blast beats, even by NAILS‘ standards. The same is true of the tracks from the Obscene Humanity EP. None are a particular musical shift from Unsilent Death, although some evolution can be heard in frontman Todd Jones‘ vocals.

As mentioned, a reissue might not be quite what NAILS fans were hoping for at this point. That said, there’s no denying that Unsilent Death is still bloody great. It sounds like the sort of thing people who don’t listen to heavy music picture when they think about this sort of thing – chaotic, violent and abrasive. Even ten years later, it remains one of the most punishing records out there, and one of the best of its kind. Listening back to it like this, fans are sure to be eager to hear new music from NAILS – and soon.

Rating: 8/10

Unsilent Death (10th anniversary edition) is set for release on November 27th via Southern Lord Records.

Follow NAILS on Bandcamp.