After thirteen years since their last record, Superjoint has put the finishing touches on a long anticipated album entitled, Caught Up in the Gears of Application, and is set to drop on November 11th. It’s packed with eleven bone crunching tracks that will make you want to start a pit in the middle of your living room, with no care to the property damage you could possibly cause. The line up on this album features Joey “Blue Gonzalez on drums, Stephen Taylor on bass, Jimmy Bower and Kevin Bond on guitar, and of course Phillip H. Anselmo on vocals. Now let’s get into the some of the highlights for me on this record.
The opening track on the album is a song called “Today and Tomorrow”, and you can instantly tell that Phillip has a lot to get off his chest, maybe from all of the bullshit he’s taken from the media over the past year or so. This one hits you in the head like a hammer, from the opening feedback of the guitar and the stops that are perfectly executed, to the thunderous rolling of the drums and the sheer intensity of the vocals. All in all this song will pull you into the general feel of the album which makes it the perfect opening track.
The opening track on the album is a song called “Today and Tomorrow”, and you can instantly tell that Phillip has a lot to get off his chest, maybe from all of the bullshit he’s taken from the media over the past year or so. This one hits you in the head like a hammer, from the opening feedback of the guitar and the stops that are perfectly executed, to the thunderous rolling of the drums and the sheer intensity of the vocals. All in all this song will pull you into the general feel of the album which makes it the perfect opening track.
The second lick, “Burning the Blanket”, has got to be one of my favorites on the album. It has a mind blowing mix of thrash, sludge, punk and straight up metal, all culminated into one explosive sound that equates to nothing less than an A-bomb going off in your ears. It really got me thinking about the state of the world we’re living in and the division that’s been created by the master manipulators, be it media, religion, government and entities of that sort. If there’s one thing I love about music, it has to be music that makes you think. If you’re listening to something that doesn’t do that for you, you’re probably listening to shit.
Another great track on the record is “Sociopathic Herd Delusion”. The first ten seconds of the song sounds like something you would hear in a horror movie. Phil is making some strange, heavy breathing kind of sounds into the mic, coupled with the high tones of the guitar and marching beat of the drums, makes me think of a villain standing over his victim getting ready to deal the death blow. Just when you think that’s the only victim, the villain is whipped into frenzy as the track continues on and he annihilates fifty more. Like all the other songs on this album is like a kick from a steel toed boot straight to the teeth. About half way through the song there’s a change that slows it down a little, but the ferocity and sheer brutality of it isn’t diminished at all.
I’m finding it harder and harder to break down every track on the album because in my opinion, it’s damn near a flawless record. There are just too many things I like about this record, be it the thickness of the sound, the mash up of multiple “genres”, or it’s pure, unadulterated rawness. It’s one of the best things I’ve heard in an extremely long time, so you’re just going to have to listen to it yourself, and make sure you listen to it loud. The first time I listened to this album, it was at a moderate volume. It seemed as if the vocals were harder to make out, and the snare on the drums didn’t cut through as much as most other albums I’ve heard. My buddy Junior told me that this is some new style of recording to give it a more live sound. I said to myself, “Well Cody, you’re just going to have to turn it up.” Low and behold there it was. I cranked it to roughly the decibel level of a live show and everything was crisper and cleaner. Blue’s drums were mind boggling, Stephen’s bass riffs were amazing, Jimmy and Kevin’s guitars were perfect and Phillip’s vocals were killer. This group of musicians and the skill that they bring can’t be fucked with. Welcome back Superjoint and thank you for this piece of brilliance!