Rotation

Earth Crisis
Slither
Victory Records

There must be some sort of irony in the fact that Earth Crisis has reunited with Victory Records. After its stint with Roadrunner Records ended as quietly and inexplicably as it began, Earth Crisis returned to the label where it launched for what should be, by all rights, the band’s most successful project to date.

Why Roadrunner and Earth Crisis split is a mystery. The pairing, after all, seemed like a match made in heaven. The Buffalo, New York, five-piece would finally get the quasi-major push it needed, and Roadrunner would have the highest-profile force in straight-edge hardcore on its label. It didn’t hurt that each Earth Crisis CD was somewhat more accessible than its predecessor.

Slither continues this trend, somehow making the switch back to Victory all the sweeter. From the very start of the short intro track, “Loss of Humanity,” the CD is surprising, not because the material is so strong — although the title song contains both a main riff and a vocal hook that scream “instant heavy classic” — but because of the quality of the recording. Unlike most music of the genre (and much of Earth Crisis’s own catalog), which often resorts to a wall-of-sound technique after the first two and a half minutes, there is nothing, no detail of any song, that cannot be discerned. Producer Steve Evetts has indeed directed the band to its peak.

Vocalist Karl Buechner alternates liberally between typical hardcore barking and actual tuneful singing. The technique is used to forceful effect on “Nemesis,” in which the anger of the verses serves as a counterpoint to the haunting, almost prophetic chorus. Guitarists Scott Crouse and Erick Edwards engage in such forceful yet clear riff work throughout that they bring to mind some of the classic metal tandems. Not that there are solos flying everywhere. It’s just rare in this genre to hear natural, high-quality interplay like this. Cheers also go to bassist Bulldog and drummer Dennis Merrick, whose approach is so crisp and smooth that he should have his picture on the cover.

Through it all, the Earth Crisis message remains undiluted: Love your earth, love all of its inhabitants, or hasten its ugly, painful demise. Songs such as “Biomachines,” “Arc of Descent” and “Behind the Wire” look at current events with the critical eye of a New York Times op-ed columnist. Issues such as cloning, animal experimentation, and political and social apathy are addressed, and the band demands that you choose where you stand. Anywhere but nowhere.

The key to Slither, however, is that the music itself is compelling enough that you might not even notice what Buechner and company are railing about. A genre-breaking release that should tickle the ears of anyone who likes his music hard, Slither is an early, and legitimate, candidate for heavy album of the year.