Grunge is Alive and Well

Destruction Unit’s newest album, Deep Trip, which was released this past August, fits right into the band’s angst-filled discography. The album is comprised of eight fairly short songs that are filled with catchy, repetitive, and hard-edged melodies.

However, do not let the first thirty seconds of the first track, “The World on Drugs,” which sounds like a distorted, metal mess that’s going to lead into a scream, scare you off. Deep Trip is filled with the grunge/punk sound that Destruction Unit has become known for. The sound is comparable to that of The Misfits with a touch of Nirvana, but with less understandable lyrics.

Right from the start of this album, you can feel the emotion—mainly the anger—that fueled the creation of these eight songs. The album, like most punk/grunge albums, has a high level of distortion on the guitars. Then, due to the distortion, at times the guitar line becomes hard to follow because the sound is almost too muddled. The songs also seem to lack a clear lead guitar.

Another result of all of the increased distortion and the unclear focus of the guitar line is that the drum line comes through most clearly, leading the listener to become easily wrapped up in the percussion, especially on “Slow Death Sounds,” the second track. The songs seem to easily blend into one another because they contain many of the same effects (i.e. distortion, delay, and chaotic lyrics) and are repetitive. However, these are the general characteristics of a punk/grunge sound.

Overall, this album is the ideal punk/grunge sound. Simply listening to it will make you angry and in the mood to rage. This isn’t an album for the faint of heart, but for those of you really looking for that hardcore sound, this is your album.