PELIGRO SOCIAL
No Religion
(Tankcrimes)

THE FUNCTIONAL
BLACKOUTS
The Very Best of the Monkees
(Dead Beat)

MOTHERFATHERS
Kolchak!
(R.A.I.G.)

WORLD BELOW
Repulsion
(PsycheDOOMelic)

MEMFIS
The Wind Up
(Candlelight)

THE HUGUENOTS
Discography 

(Hydra Head)

ATAVIST
II : Ruined

(Profound Lore)

MORE REVIEWS

OK, it is policy of Deaf Sparrow not to cover any records that are more than one year old. But this is our first and only exception. I had heard great things about The Ruin of Nova Roma, especially coming from European press, so I bugged the people of Candlelight Records and the always polite Dave Brenner (Earsplit PR) to send me a promo for a record that came out about two years ago. Finally, I got it in the e-mail, so I made it jump to the top of the pile as to not let any more time pass by it.  The effort was totally worth it. The Ruin of Nova Roma jumps from related style to related style, by that we mean that its music fluctuates between metal, hard punk and sludge among others within the same track. Traces and bits of other hard and underground genres are audible throughout. Stylistically Taint reminds me of Baroness, one of the most promising American bands of today. Taint though, hail from Cardiff, UK from all places and have been around for much longer than their Savannah, GA partners.

Formed in South Wales in 1994 and emerging from the metal/punk scene Taint manage to make some very accessible noise. Their songs are less harsh than those of Baroness first three recordings and the production job of the band is definitely less ragged. The best part of it is the wide appeal this has; Taint’s sound is as friendly to hardcore kids as it is to metalheads. The band borrows freely from all; a trait that has helped them secure shows with bands as diverse as Clutch, Acrimony and Converge. Because of the multiple tempo and melodic changes, a lot of their songs seem longer than they actually are.  This demands top notch musicianship; and of that this band has enough to spill.

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