The Modern Age Slavery - Damned to Blindness

February 25, 2009

Reviewer: Peter

The Modern Age Slavery: that is the name of the Italian five man group.  Based on that name alone, one would assume that the music these gentlemen put forth is of the technical death to deathcore variety.  That presumption is correct; however, there is actually a little more to it than just your everyday Job for a Cowboy worship going on here.  In fact, there is a lot of talent in the band and as their debut album Damned to Blindness demonstrates, they even show glimpses of what could be for the band.  However, there is much work to be done before they can be considered more than just “Band Y” in a subgenre that is saturated with bands that play a similar sound.

Even before putting in Damned to Blindness, the cover art for the album is something that one would expect for a band named The Modern Age Slavery.  As for the music that is contained on the album, it starts off with what on the surface is a throwaway track in “Progenies of Ancient Slaves” when in reality, it is just a mere false sense of security that the band puts forth before blasting into “Red Lines of Obsessions.”  One good thing about The Modern Age Slavery is that they never let up on the gas when it comes to intensity.  The music features some insanely fast drumming and some good technical guitar work from the band.  It also features vocals that are at the very least, acceptable and not too grating after a while.  And dare I say it; there are actual hints of songs on the album, a common problem for many bands within the genre.  “Drop By Drop,” “Shell of Perversion,” and “Purple” are where the band shines the best because they seem to put all of the talent together with a little songwriting.  However, as with many bands of the metal/death core genre, the band inevitably falls into some of those same traps.  For instance, on “A Desert to Die For,” there are the usual breakdowns that so many bands of the genre utilize and rarely try to add or subtract from them.  Also, for all of the talent on the album, there just isn’t anything that hasn’t already been done before.  At some points, you will likely ask where you originally heard parts of songs such as “A Desert to Die For” and “Damned to Blindness.”  The album closes with the band’s cover of the Entombed classic “Wolverine Blues.”  The good news here is that they make a passable attempt at it, which is the least you can say.

Overall, The Modern Age Slavery is a band with a pretty terrible name, but some serious talent.  However, as the old saying goes, “For all of the tools, you have to have a toolbox.”  Sure, the band has the tools, but they don’t always have a toolbox for which to house all of the tools.  There are glimpses on Damned to Blindness that suggest The Modern Age Slavery can become great, but for now, it seems that they will get lost in the mix of the many bands that perform a similar style.   There’s work to do, but not as much as one would think.  If they can incorporate more into their sound, there’s no telling where they can go from here.

Release Date: November 28, 2008
Label: Napalm Records

TRACK LISTING

1. Progenies of Ancient Slaves
2. Red Lines of Obsessions
3. Damned to Blindness
4. Drop By Drop
5. A Desert to Die For
6. Vile Mother Earth
7. The Sublime Decadence
     to an Era
8. Shell of Perversion
9. Descent to Oblivion
10. Purple
11. The Modern Age Slavery
12. Wolverine Blues

Total playing time: 38:18

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