Judiciary - Flesh + Blood

Crossover thrash has been enjoying a renaissance since the 2010s, but with the future of arguably its premier act, Power Trip, uncertain, Judiciary have been throwing their hardcore headpieces into the pit for consideration.  Since stomping their way out of Lubbock and onto the scene, Judiciary have been building a solid fan base that stretches far from their Texan roots.  Despite only having a split EP and 2019 debut album “Surface Noise” to their name, there is a lot of anticipation about the thirty one minute and twenty five seconds of musical menace that they have dished up.  From the moment that the wiry riff in opening track 'Flesh' opens out into its epic stomp, it is clear that this album leans more heavily into the "metallic" side of the band's sound.  With mixing duties being taken on by Fit For An Autopsy’s prolific producer Will Putney, you will quickly get a sense of the heft that he has brought to the project through you knock-off AirPods.  And the album doesn't let up.  The chugging outro to 'Flesh' drops straight into the pounding start of 'Blood', which is itself succeeded by the first single from the album, ‘Engulfed’.  One of the many highlights of the album, this track rips straight into an opening riff that evokes Megadeth's 'Take No Prisoners' played by Dave Mustaine before he found Jesus. 

While the music is distinctly rooted to metal, the vocals are delivered in a more traditional hardcore style by Jake Collinson.  A behemoth of a bloke whose aggressive yet precise delivery is reminiscent of Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta - although he does treat us to an actual sing in the closing one minute and twenty five seconds of the album.  Gojira-esque harmonic pick rakes in ‘Knife in the Dirt’ shows some variation but generally it tows the same metallic hardcore line.  This album is single-minded; it knows what it is and you can guarantee that there will be a Hate5six video of these guys causing people to lose their collective shits to this.  It's chonky and it's good.