Exit-13
Environmentally-themed 'grind rock' group from Pennsylvania, USA, Exit-13 are a side-project for Brutal Truth bass player Dan Lilker (also ex-S.O.D. and others). Joined by Relapse Records co-owner Bill Yurkiewicz (vocals/samples), guitarist Steve O'Donnell and former Brutal Truth drummer Scott Lewis, the band's debut fused traditional doom metal components with blues and jazz textures. An unlikely combination, it saw the record described as mixing 'Stevie Ray Vaughan and early Napalm Death' in one quarter. Yurkiewicz's lyrics continued to explore desperate themes on ETHOS MUSICK—the opening track, subtly titled Societally Provoked Genocidal Contemplation, opened with the line 'This whole world is fucking sick', before concluding its first verse with 'Insanity frees my mind to wonder, I gleefully ponder humanity's murder'. Elsewhere the group ruminated further on their race's capacity for self-degradation and cruelty, and the lasting effect of industrial activities on the planet. It certainly provided an intriguing contrast to hear such '60s idealism braced against some of the present decade's most fearsome noise.