Here it is. The self-proclaimed Negative Action Group, also called Southern Nihilist Front (it's all in the liner notes), but better known as Eyehategod have finally released an official follow-up to 1996's "Dopesick." And remember, that's Eyehategod I am talking about, so if you didn't like them before, you sure as hell won't like them now. These guys derive their energy from total disdain and loathing of any existing authority, moral values and social order, with their music being the direct expression of that. And what better way to vent your never-ending stream of hate than through virulently nihilistic lyrics, delirious vocal lashings, piercing guitar feedback (check out ".0001%" half of which consists of squealing guitar static), and fatter-than-a-sumo-wrestler, bloated Southern (American South, that is) riffs.

Keeping all that in mind, I would be more surprised if the band actually tried to do something different on this album, which they didn't. In fact, this album harks back to the days of "Take As Needed For Pain" with renewed power and energy. Over the years, I have come to expect the band to deliver exactly what their name implies, nothing more, but also nothing less. Otherwise, I would just think that they are going soft precisely because this music is not what they do, it's what they are, and that pretty much sums it up. You either revel in this bitter, noxious river of negativity or you wimp out and swim for the shore of easy listening respite. The choice is yours.

© 2000 boris