Heretics in the Lab- Terrible Things

ARTIST: Heretics in the Lab

ALBUM: Terrible Things

LABEL: Radio-Active-Music

REVIEWER: Matthew J.

DATE: 5-1-10

The latest album from Virginia's Heretics in the Lab is as aggressive as anything the band has yet produced, but sonically it's an evolution, less dependent on the nonstop industrial metal jackhammering that characterized their debut. While the speed metal riffs and pounding snares of "Anonymous" still highlight Ministry and Bile as influences, there's a much stronger coldwave flavor present here, as well. Vocalist H3 doesn't bellow so much as he sneers, and that combined with the gritty sexuality and deliberate offensiveness of tracks like "Owner" and the clanking "Sincerely" recall nothing so much as Hate Dept. and Chemlab, right down to shocking lyrics that make you wonder whether they're castigating or celebrating the misogynistic pose they describe. If the dirty, sexually-tinged tracks are the album's most memorable, there's certainly no shortage of less nuanced offerings, and if pure mosh pit aggression is your thing, you can't do better than the thrashing "Fiction" with its tinny keys and crushing chords, and "Hate It" breaks up its chunky riffs and barked vocals with a quieter bridge that manages to show how tight the band is without breaking the adrenaline-fueled mood. Final track "I Am" seems to take a more purely metal approach with its death march beats and heavy, doom-laden guitars, but then builds into an almost progressive-influenced rock number laced with ominous sirens. A more mature offering than previous works, this album takes Heretics in the Lab to new sonic heights without softening any of their hard edges; in a lot of ways, in fact, they're even harder than ever before.

Visit the lab at www.myspace.com/hereticsinthelab for more information.