Second full length album from SG, and I don’t own the first one. I do though own the self-titled CD having been sufficiently impressed with them the first time I saw them support Napalm Death. Since then they’ve acquired a new vocalist, Adam, and I’ve seen them support Madball, where to be honest, they didn’t leave as favourable impression. But that was confounded by the fact that the new material they were playing sounded vaguely Slayerish, which is something I like. Maybe it was unfamiliarity with the material on the night that did it. But now the second album is here, and I feel relieved that my thoughts of the Slayer connection are well founded, as musically it comes through on a number of occasions. To me, this is the perfect example of metal/hardcore, that some purists of either genre might despise, because it is so firmly rooted in both camps. Musically it’s metal, without the guitar solos, vocally it’s hardcore all the way. As such, I find it a nice prospect.

So far I’ve only listened a few times, so it may be too early to make a judgement, but it sounds like there’s a definite progression in the clarity of the songwriting as evident on Lesion, or Emasculate or I Am Legend, which will entice me to put on the CD more times than that mini-album.

One criticism is that the bass seems to be lost in the mix, which is a bit of shame, because as heavy as this is, (and it is, this is HEAVY music), it just feels like there could’ve been something extra there.

Once more, there’s a UK band producing something that any host of American bands in the same musical field would be justifiably proud of.

And finally, no it’s not News At Ten. But take note other bands / labels / whatevers. If you want to include a “bonus” track, do it like this. Not hidden, not unaccredited, just distanced on the sleeve from the rest of the album. None of that pointless fucking around that everyone else seems so determined to do.

Available on Century Media