SHIFT is a Heavy Metal band based out of Melbourne, Australia.  They describe their sound as "Like Nick Cave being bashed across the skull with Machine Head's ten ton hammer."  Choosing to focus on songwriting, they have more creative control and a wider spectrum of influence to permeate the music.  They aren't looking to fit as many hooks into the song as possible, preferring to take an unconventional approach to songwriting that allows the music to adjust dynamically and build throughout the song.  As far as I can tell, this album is their third release, and contains nine tracks.  "All Reason Gone" is the opening track.  It has a well-rounded assertiveness to it with a dark melody line.  I was totally expecting harsh vocals, but was pleasantly surprised with the clean vocals here, which fit very well.  The main riff is a bruising affair, and the production is nicely done.  "Cult of Obey" features another strong riff and crushing verse sections.  Somber and emotional, it carries a convincing message.  In "The Lunacy of Faith," they bring in even more Metal variegate to their album.  The up-and-down guitar riff allows the rest of the band to build around it, swallowing it at times with oppressive energy, and letting it take the lead other times.  Death vocals bring some more depth to the track, and the lyrics are underscored in the chorus.  In this track, I can really hear the dynamic building that the band talked about in their sound description.  "Morality" begins appropriately, with a soft vocal and instrumental entrance, engaging the listener in the concept of the word, but during the chorus there is a full on musical assault.  It is a nice contrast of back-and-forth sort of push and pull.

"Pale Blue Dot" has a swifter and aggressive feel, with some blast beat drumming.  Yet the vocals are subdued, allowing the instruments to take the lead.  I really enjoy the hard accentuations they make in segueing from one passage to another.  In once again matching a song title to the feeling you have when listening to it, "Black As Death" is a fuzzy, brooding, droning exercise in bloodlust, where death vocals and eerie keyboard notes pierce through the landscape of the track.  "From Worms to Maggots" is another oppressive track, with a hasty meter, and a driving riff that sounds like skulls crushing under the weight of machines.  "W.A.R." is another earnest track that combines the fierceness of the various instrumental parts with a despondent focus.  "An Athiests Anthem" closes the album.  It opens gently, and cautiously, building a nice melody line that grows with passion and energy.  Sonically, their music is difficult to categorize, which as we read above, was the band's intention to creating their music in the first place.  What I can say, is that this is powerful and energetic Heavy Metal that transcends genre labeling, and results in a totally unique listening experience that I doubt you have had to date.  There is a lot going on here yet the band is able to connect to the listener with an accessibility that is often not found in this style of music.  They are creating without limitations or pressure from a label, and this is easily heard in the music.  SHIFT is a unique and noteworthy band that needs to be signed, and I enthusiastically look forward to hearing more from them.