powertakeOFF - Unhinged

Label: Made In Kansas
Year: 2014

"You call THIS a church?!"...one of many, many, many accusatory screeds levied against you, fair listener, as you try to surface from beneath a dense fog of oppressive noise. Wielding songs like death threats, this band has returned to your front door to further mock your family and ridicule each and every life decision you've ever made. You'll never know what it is that you have done to warrant this type of harassment, as you feel that your life to this point has been just and right, but here you are, face to face with a menace beyond compare, which you certainly have not been prepared for.

I got my copy of this cassette in the mail just an hour ago, and thought that I would take a couple days to really get to know the songs, to digest their "true meaning"...or something. But holy fucking shit, after the false start of opening "track" "HELLO???" (essentially 54 seconds of barely audible sound), the brakes come off and this record veers wildly out of control, serving up three unbelievably gnarled attacks in a row that only relent when fifth and final track "I Promise NOT To Kill Myself" threatens to Love 666 you right off the cliff! The viciousness which powertakeOFF employ comes as a welcome respite after their previous lp of unabated sludge-fuck (a compliment, mind you) abuse. It's invigorating to hear them going for the throat and keeping the hammer down for the entirety of the three "traditional" songs on the album. Not to discount the apparent mental disorders at work here, because when they decide to "get weird", they drop the hammer on weirdness just as skillfully. The methodical nature of the barrage goes a long way in amplifying the glorious hate spilling out of each fucked up riff.

Highly recommended. Limited edition of 100 cassettes, mixed by Scott Evans of Kowloon Walled City, so move it fat ass.

DL