Nuclear Punishment/Isvarah/Prayer of Endurance/Forgiveness DeniedThis four way split features four metallic hardcore/metalcore bands from the Philippines. The first band on the split is Cavite's Nuclear Punishment, who some say they are a cross between Gehenna and Obituary and draw more from the metal side of things than anything else. Manila's Isvarah are a metalcore band with a bit of thrash and hardcore thrown in for good measure. Baguio's Prayer of Endurance are another metalcore band with influences ranging from straight metal to metallic hardcore. Forgiveness Denied from Batangas are also a metalcore band. Aside from all bands being influenced heavily by metal, most of the guys seem to be straight edge although I think Isvarah have members that like to drink.
In total there are 21 tracks which breaks down to every band contributing 5 except for Forgiveness Denied, who contributed their final recording to this split. In all there is well over an hours worth of music, and most of it is pretty fucking good. Without question the most enjoyable band on this split was Nuclear Punishment. Not only are their songs well crafted and crushing but of all the bands on the split, they had the best recording hands down. I really enjoy how they are able to turn songs upside down, going from a nice chugging part to a sweet technical part. Another upside for these guys are the harsh, visceral vocals. And to keep the compliments coming, I really enjoyed the off the wall lyrics!
The second band Isvarah, who as I mentioned were metalcore but liked to add in some thrash and hardcore. I enjoy them but at times their songs seem to drag on a bit. And it's not as though their songs are really all that long (typically 3-4 minutes) but sometimes their thrashier riffs become a bit boring. Their vocalist has a good set of pipes on him though, I enjoy his delivery. They throw some pretty good breakdowns in their songs which helps to keep the energy up.
Behind Nuclear Punishment, Prayer of Endurance had the best riffing. I would say they are the most straight up metalcore of the bunch. The vocals are decent but after awhile they can become a bit monotonous but hey at least their isn't any of that nut ass clean singing garbage. Their recording leaves a bit to be desired unfortunately. It's not unbearable but it sounds a bit rough. The drums sound really rigid, the vocals are too low in the mix and the bass could also use a little more work.
Forgiveness Denied were one of the bands that left a bitter sweet taste in my mouth. Their songs were pretty fucking good, had some cool transitions and weird but awesome breakdowns (the breakdown in "Harsh Reality" almost sounds like some music that was in Ichi The Killer) but the bitterness came from the recording. The drums, ESPECIALLY the bass drum, sounded horrible. It was a bit of the recording but also the drummers ability (or lack thereof). Other than that I enjoyed their quirky and at times technical take on metalcore.
The labels that were involved with this release did a nice job putting together this release. The double sided, five page booklet is printed on standard stock gloss paper and looks really good. Each band gets two panels which were used to display the lyrics for each song, credits and a piece of artwork. The additional panels are used for the front cover and the other is a collage with photos of each band and their name.
Rating: 3.8/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: (FD) "Harsh Reality", (NP) "Turbo Kabaong Showcase", (POE) "Messiah Complex", (I) "Fear Is The Limit"
Synopsis: Overall this is a quality split. There are some less than stellar songs on here but for the most part it's good stuff. The recording isn't great across the board but the layout ALMOST makes up for it. I recommend it...
Check these links out:
Major Malfunction
Nuclear Punishment MySpace
Prayer of Endurance MySpace
Forgiveness Denied MySpace
Isvarah MySpace