This California's anarchistic grindcore force has made its first attempts in noise violence in year 1990. So, the fact that they continue, after having releasing many splits and some full - lengths, this is their sixth album, means a lot and of course they are not a random band.
A mixture of NAPALM DEATH, EXTREME NOISE TERROR, ultra speed sickness a la REPULSION and many punk moments close to DISCHARGE provides a result, really a Molotov for your ears. The thing with this style is that there are no mid conditions. A grindcore record is either good, keeping your adrenaline in high levels or it is bad and boring. I can say with ease that PHOBIA are in the first category, providing an explosive record, continuing their previous full - lengths although I believe that this time they made their ultimate one.
Except the basic kern, consisting by the guitarist Steve and the vocalist Shane is worth mentioning that their bassist is no other than Leon Del Muerte from the mighty bands DEKAPITATOR, MORBOSIDAD and EXHUMED. This is a guarantee, at least for me. The other special is Danny Walker's performance that is so intense and violent that raise the whole band. PHOBIA are masters in creating sonic dynamites that are so well - written in chaos creation that is not so common in bands of this genre. One other cool thing is the diversity of the songs. You will never bore their tracks, there are good tempo changes reaching all the range of the genre. The beginning of Bring The War creates a war on the streets feel with a BOLT THROWER riffing. The drumming in Anarchist Farce will leave you speechless, the start of Instruments Of Deception is awesome. The big surprise was tracks like Rise Up and Depression Is A Killer that are 100 per cent punk full into the DISCHARGE realms and specially the first one is an absolutely highlight, any time I hear it I want to go out and destroy everything. Last but not least Blackened Day starting full of speed, becoming a VOIVOD terror and finally transforming into a fabulous close to NAPALM DEATH song that is like the end of civilization upon this planet. Killer!!!
Almost 30 minutes are enough of making your brain melting, most ideas are not fillers and although the 22 number of the songs I find them having a personality. There are not many Grindcore albums like this one for sure, making PHOBIA's last one not only absolutely must for friends of this genre but also one of the highlights of this year. Let the chaos prevail. The rating below is based upon the style standards.