BAIT - Anatomy Of Disaster

BAIT
Anatomy Of Disaster
In At The Deep End Records - 2004
7.5/10




Bait straddles the line between the styles of Refused and High On Fire brilliantly. The band has a dirty, disturbed edge about them that lends a feeling of impending disaster to their creative sounding music.

Bassy rumblings permeate these nine tracks as Rob Middleton wails vocally while delivering crushing guitar rhythms. He sounds uncontrollable on “Descender”, a low-fi affair meant to bludgeon. Steve Harvey and Nick Barker pair up to form a tough, hard hitting rhythm section that focuses on power grooves and closed fist accents to the discordant progressions Middleton provides. Thick sludge metal follows on “…And I’ll Be It’s Dog” as the trio hammers away in search of blunt force trauma. The surrealistic lyrics focus on life’s imperfections and dark corners. “Monochromatic” is successful in portraying an utter bleak outlook that moves in a downward spiral of destruction.

Bait tempts the hand of doom on “Forked Tongue Evolution”, pounding through buzzing riffs and high pitched bends with a notion of cryptic sonic hammering. The group injects some disjointed punk vibes into the fray with “Hangman”, where they sound like Helmet’s evil twin during the verse parts, while bashing away at a massive, destructive chorus that is like a wall of fog. No specific genre is best suited to describe this trio, but the music is undoubtedly heavy and the mood is brazenly dark.

Sludge is likely to be the most fitting description of this music, but the group throws in some punk, grunge and straight up metal for good measure. ‘Anatomy Of Disaster’ is a bleak, chilling indictment of a world gone mad. And, that’s intended to be a compliment.


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