AMG Review of Society's Parasites

Jo-Ann Greene
All Music Guide

"Preface" starts this set off in fairly normal punk fashion with an adamant rhythm and insistent guitar riff, then kicks it up a gear with a blazing guitar solo. However, Society's Parasites then suddenly launch into "In the City" (no relation to the Jam song of the same title), with a blur of guitar licks, a faster than light speed rhythm, and vicious, shouted vocals. Sweating rage, frustration, and barely repressed violence from every pore, the Parasites put the hard as nails back in hardcore with this their eponymous album. With just a modicum of melody around the rhythm guitar, pummeling rhythms that never let up, and the fastest guitar solos known to man, these Parasites are determined to suck the very life out of listeners. Well, they wouldn't be the first speed metal/thrash band to do that, but this is a Society of a different sort, pure hardcore with an attitude and a penchant for speed. It could end up a Wall of Sound, but Left Alone'sElvis Cortez's sensational production insures that this never happens, for no matter how fast the song, the instruments remain distinct, a reflection of the band's flawless performances and awesome talent. "American Nightmare" is a particularly notable example, as the band run roughshod right over Rancid's Matt Freeman, as bassist Andy perfectly imitates his distinctive style at hyperspeed. The lead guitarist puts even that feat to shame, lashing out licks of lightning leads faster than a solar flare, he's virtually a blur on "Swift and Deadly"'s intro, with a stutter of notes so fast they resemble hummingbird wings (a gentle comparison this assaultive band will inevitably abhor). The album ends aptly enough with "Post Script," a gloomy number flecked with a nod to the post-punk scene and the Banshees, although the vinyl album finishes with a flourish with an infectious, rip-roaring bonus track. But for all the frenzy and fury that infuses this set, all the angry titles -- "Parasites," "Doomed," "Wishing Armageddon," "Nightmare" -- raging vocals, and incendiary lyrics, there's something curiously liberating about this set, perhaps the shared cathartic experience of turning fury into furious music that's as glorious as it is vitriolic.