Friday, July 23, 2010

Review #140: Government Warning - Paranoid Mess (2009)


PARANOID MESS

Year: 2009
Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: No Way Records
Tracks: 15
Length: 28 Minutes
Style: Angry/Political
My Rating: 6/8

Government Warning is a band from Richmond Virginia blah blah blah blehh blah blah blah blooh bleh blah blah blabber blibber bleebber blubber blakkety-blak! Anyways, the band has released various EPs since 2005 when they formed, and their first LP was released in 2006 and titled "No Moderation". Now, their latest album, titled "Paranoid Mess" was released in 2009, and it's very good. Alrighty, now... time to listen, shall we?

1. Rot and Decay
Starts out with a screech of feedback. Then the song segues into rumbling drums and fiery rhythm guitar, exploding into a very fast thrashy song. Pretty good riffs throughout the song.

2. Nowhere to Go
A more straightforward thrash piece. Excellent riff in the chorus part. Extremely speedy! Not very long, though.

3. Urban Warfield
This song's a little more mid-tempo than what we've heard, so far. Can't find lyrics for any songs off of this album, so I have no idea what these songs are about other than what the titles suggest. There's a guitar solo at the end of the song.

4. Endless Slaughter
It's a fast song and probably about killing or some shit like that. I like how the drums sound in the chorus section of the song. The riff gets a whole lot better in the second half of the song.

5. Stop Again
One of my favorites from this album. It starts out with a pretty neat slow intro. Then after that, the song speeds up a little bit and the first verse of the song begins. I love the chorus riff, and the vocals in that part. A bit of lead guitar here, too. Then after the second chorus, there's a bridge section with a fucking awesome beat that punches you in the face alongside some nice chords! The chorus repeats one last time before the song ends.

6. Revolving Door
Begins with an insane drum solo and the main riff, before cooling down into a more conherent thrasher (yet again). But it's got a pretty good chorus. Some of the riffs used here are actually a little more complex than just three chords. I guess this wouldn't be a bad soundtrack to running around in circles through a revolving door over and over again. That would be pretty fucking funny!

7. Blurred Yellow Line
A blurred yellow line... like in the middle of the road? I suppose they're kind of blurred. Who knows! This one has a tempo more like "Stop Again" or "Urban Warfield". There's a pretty neat solo in the middle of the song. The vocals sound good here. Yet another solo! The section played at the end of the song has a neat riff. Then the bass gets pretty heavy. That's the end of Side A.

8. Disengage
Starts with a noisy intro. The verse section has a really good guitar riff. Every now and then you'll hear little bits of backup guitars which sort of play alongside the main riff for short bursts. Oh, and this song is also fast. Just in case you were not sure. Heh.

9. Hour After Hour
HOUR AFTER HOUR! HOUR AFTER HOUR (after hour)!!! AAAAUUUUGHHHH!! OOOHHH, THE AGONNNYYYYY! In later parts of the song they throw in a few extra sections with different riffs to add variety to the mix.

10. Glued
Love the beat here. It's pretty fast, but not, like, ultra-fast. But it just sounds good here, y'know? Yeah, this song iz pretty good. Not sure what it's about. Sometimes I cry myself to sleep at night 'cause I don't know what these songs are about... *sniffle*...

11. Factory Line
And this song is extremely fast! This band's gotta have a pretty good drummer, I'll say that. And let me not neglect the bassist... the bassline here is actually pretty good in the chorus, which is only about half the pace of the verse section.

12. Shot Fulla Holes
Also extremely fast... this one's okay. I can't really think of much great to say about it, though it does have a pretty awesome solo in one part of the song.

13. Global Warning
This one's an instrumental! It's just a slow song with a really good verse riff and an okay chorus riff, but it sounds really cool. The verse riff sounds like you're being surrounded by an army of evil robots that are trying to take over the world. It's a pretty awesome song. Some parts of the song implement more metalish strokes of the guitar strings.

14. Paranoid Mess
The song that the album is named after, and one of the best songs here! There's not much wrong with this song, it's very paranoid-sounding like the title suggests, and it's a mad, energetic piece of action, pretty much the whole core of the album. It captures the intensity and chaos of a paranoid person in American society. The vocals here sound really good here, also.

15. Enough Is Enough
The longest song on the album (three and a half minutes), and it sounds very different from the other songs on the album. The chorus part is really catchy, even though I wasn't very huge on the verse part. There's a guitar solo towards the end of the song.

So yes, that's "Paranoid Mess", and it's the newest offering from Government Warning. The same year they released this they also recorded a 7" single called "Executed", so that would be another recent Government Warning album. There are a few moments that feel a bit weak in my opinion, but for the most part it's a pretty good, solid album it should be worth a listen. The band's music here is also a lot more, well, musical than some of the other hardcore bands -- there's always an occasional break from the typical verse/chorus/repeat mode that's so common these days. So, yes yes, Paranoid Mess. Check it out!

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Stop Again
2. Paranoid Mess
3. Global Warning



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