Customer Reviews

Heirs to Thievery

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Misery Index return with their 4th full length cd. Basically they stay true to their death/grind sound. If you liked them before that will not change. This is fantastic and it was cool to see John from Dying Fetus lend some vocals to the cd as well, kinda bridging the gap between the 2 bands since Jason left DF yrs ago to form Misery Index. Production is top notch and the songs are brutal. Lots of catchy riffs that will make the pit erupt w/pummeling intensity. This is a buy or Die release!!!!!!!!!

Picked up "Heirs" the other day and it has not left my CD player since. A tremendously heavy album filled with crushing grooves and riffs, Misery Index may have written the heaviest album of the year.

The lyrics/vox are intense and through-provoking, the drumming is killer, and the entire album's tempo is just a non-stop, in-your-face, balls-to-the-wall feeding frenzy. This is what metal is supposed to sound like.

Album highlights include "The Illuminaught," "The Carrion Call," and "The Seventh Cavalry." The album cannot be rec'd enough to fans of brutal, inspired music.

Misery Index has released another brutal ass kicking record. As a Misery Index fan for years I am pleased with everything this band records. Their full length albums, EPs, splits and their vinyls. Everything this band records is gold.

An adrenaline rush is best when describing this album. If you like fast and heavy music you'll love this album. Play it loud.

I was not a fan of Misery Index before Heirs to thievery. I am now. With so much wimpy metal out there,it's nice to hear some straight up ass kicking. i bought this cd on the strength of one song,"Carrion Call". I took a chance and it paid off in spades!

Misery Index are at the top of their game! I was really excited to hear Heirs to Thievery not just because Traitors was so good, but because the distance between Death Metal and the really pissed off Hardcore that helped spawn it, is getting larger every year. For every band like Misery Index, there are a hundred Whitechapels or Cannibal Corpses. This band treat their music like a sounding board to rally against corporate greed, corrupt government, and the elite in society that dictate all of our lives. My only question is, in this day and age, why are there not a hundred Misery Index's? Well the answer is simple. Jason Netherton, the principle lyricist, is smarter than the average metal-head. It takes research and insight to write songs like these, things many bands couldn't be bothered with. Musically, Heirs to Thievery sounds the most like Dying Fetus' Destroy the Opposition, of anything they have done. Straight forward power punk riffs, augmented by the occasional technical flourish, with killer drum work and viscious roaring diatribes are this band's M.O. Adam Jarvis' drum work is so freaking good on every track and very mature. Even the slow songs are scorching death metal through and through. There are some fantastic guest appearances that help to break the monotony but I feel like this album could be six songs longer and I'd still love every second! There is nothing deceptive about Misery Index. You'll get strong riffs, ripping drumwork, and roaring vocals that make true meat and potatos death metal. AWESOME, ADDICTIVE, AND ANGRY AS HELL!

ferocious in word and deed...

'heirs' is w/o a doubt MI's most infectious blend of death/grind to date, and hands down the best xtreme metal album so far this year - no easy task...note: ALL splits and eps reflected this almost continuous unhinged intensity. the title track is as unrelenting as MI has ever delivered

grafting a sense of melody to the unapologetic chaos that is grind is not easy; but it is this skill which seperates the memorable from the wash of truly forgettable - and MI are one of the best bands at this complicated art, having crafted a true 'de force'. the lyrics are always as thought provoking as they are uncompromising, toss in their best album cover ever and if you have no idea who this band is - start here!

the war cry on 'you lose' is worth the price of admission alone. they can write lyrics in english,german and now spanish - that's a triple-threat people!

get informed, get involved, or get the F out o' the way

2010 marked the ten year anniversary for Maryland's Misery Index. (They first debuted with an E.P. called "Overthrow" back in 2001.) These now legendary death-grind stalwarts celebrated this occasion by releasing another new album, "Heirs To Thievery," their fourth long-player, and the follow-up to 2008's flawless "Traitors." Killer riffs, utterly inhuman drumming, steady bass lines, brutal vocals, thought-provoking political lyrics, booming breakdowns, a crisp mixing job, articulate-sounding production, good guitar solos...it's all here to make sure that this is yet another great M.I. record. The propulsive and opener, "Embracing Extinction," gets things started off on a strong note by throwing out gobs of thrashy tempos, excellent drumming (including several little deft, cracking snare drum fills), undeniably punk-y overtones, really visceral and vehement, roaring vocals (a la Pig Destroyer), and a deeply grooving main riff that recalls some latter-day Napalm Death stuff. In ts successor, the gently-named "Fed To The Wolves," explodes with another outstanding drum performance. The song has a few unexpectedly nice surprises that come in the form of some freakishly high-pitched, Black Dahlia Murder-style shrieks, and a slow breakdown complemented by some brief guitar sweeps, tasty twin-guitar harmonies and good melodic soloing. But skinsman Adam Jarvis is the real treat, here. He puts on a simply devastating display long on rapid-fire, battering-ram blast beats, racing thrash beats, and various other inventive, all-over-the-place fills. Next up, "The Carrion Call" piles riff on top of great, memorable, gut-punching, Gojira/Krisiun-esque riff. And the heck of it is that these riffs are groove-oriented, too, so they're actually quite catchy!And it is all anchored by driving, Fear Factory-worthy double-time drumming.

That tune (the one described above) may have opted for a fairly mid-tempo grind (and it even has some noteworthy harmonic guitar leads), but then the band storm back as brutal and angry as ever. The title track, which wouldn't sound mismatched coming off of a Suffocation outing, steamrolls out of your speakers. It has an abundance of driving, stop-start blasting, very impeccable and thunderous double bass slamming, and occasional use of rhythmic, marching beats. Also, be sure to check out its mini, shredding guitar solo, and chugging hardcore breakdowns, too. Continuing down this same path, "The Spectator" is another piece of more traditional/old-school hardcore, and is highlighted by an almost astonishingly melodic intro riff, catchy staccato guitar licks, and extremely contagious vokills (i.e. infectious vocal patterns, powerful, shouted choruses, and great vocal hooks.) Following this, Misery Index then decide to catch their breath, so they slow the tempos down for the next couple of tracks (thus allowing the listener to catch a breath). "The Illuminaught" is kind of a "math-y" number that augments more great, motoring drumming, big, fast, lumbering rhythms, and chugging, cascading riffs that sound prime for mosh pits; and "The Seventh Cavalry" is hands down the most restrained moment to be found on the whole record. But, again, it is just a matter of time before everything speeds way back up again. "Plague Of Objects" is a heart=racing death-thrasher that fiercely attacks eardrums with ferocious and uncompromising picking and drumming.

"You Lose" is song number nine, and it also just might be the best one of the bunch. It starts off playing like a full-one crossover thrash/thrashcore number, and features some catchy swing, groove, and swagger, and memorable riff-work that evokes vintage Dirty Rotteen Imbeciles almost to the tee. As "You Lose" progresses, though, it picks up substantial speed and brutality, and you know it has hit its peak when it enters Napalm Death-worthy territory. It just engulfs the listener in a salvo of dizzying and wooshing buzzsaw riffage. And, of course, no review would be complete without mentioning the killer cameo from Dying Fetus' Vince Matthews. His vocals really cut deep, here, and are sure to be engraved on your brain after only one listen. In another nod to Dying Fetus, one of M.I.'s major musical influences (after all, this group pretty much formed out of the ashes of that one), "Sleeping Giants" adopts memorable guest vocals from DF's current frontman, John Gallagher. (And it is impossible not to love that mind-boggling drum solo that opens "Sleeping Giants.") "Day Of The Dead" wraps it all up, and with a blistering give-and-take between the guitars and drums, crazy polyrhythms that would make Meshuggah's Tomas Haake proud, blankets of crushing grindcore blasts, and wicked, throat-scraping bellows, does so in a very effective manner.

To be fair, "Heirs To Thievery" doesn't get to show-off enough of axeman Mark Kloeppel and Dann Morris' exceptional guitar soloing skills. Hence, when it is placed back-to-back with `08's "Traitors," the latter is favored. But only by a little bit. And that should not take anything at all away from this album. Because, frankly speaking, death metal/grindcore doesn't get much better than this. Hence, in addition to being another excellent effort from Misery Index, "HTT" is quite possibly the year's finest slab of heavy music. But hey, what else have you come to expect from these guys?!

So this is a decent album with some impressive musicians and production. Some good breakdowns occasionally and screaming vocals throughout. However, the only thing that really stands out on this ablum is the drums...
I'm pretty sure the drummer for this group is Animal from the Muppets, and he has developed a wicked coke habit since the show went off the air. Or possibly the drummer is an octopus hopped up on energy drinks...but seriously, this guy is out of control. And I'm not just talking about the kick drums. Honestly, I think it's distracting and I wish he would slow down a bit and stop playing 1/128th notes. It's amazing but but jeez...
So if you want solid metal with ridiculously fast drumming, this is the band for you. Otherwise, maybe check them out on myspace beforehand to make sure your head doesn't explode after a couple tracks.

I was never a big Misery Index fan. I saw them twice on a couple of festival shows and could not get the notion that they were trying, and failing, to emulate Dying Fetus out of my head. My drummer recommended this album to me as something "amazing" so I gave it a spin. Holy crap. Repetitive is the word of the day here.

Just about every track can be skipped to the same duration point and it will sound the same each time with a bridge coming in at about the 1:20 mark on each song and then we see the track(s) finishing up around 2:50 - 3:00 repeating what they had done the remainder of the song. This album is basically a hardcore album on speed, which is pretty much what MI has had on display for the last few records. So if you were a fan of that stuff, you'll probably enjoy this one. Nothing has really changed.