Most Precious Blood, Merciless

Most Precious Blood play a fast paced, driving style of hardcore that I’ve been a fan of for some time now. Their latest effort, Merciless, is no different. It’s not a rehashing of the previous material and has actually distanced itself from older releases with a few stylistic changes to their sound.

On their last release, Our Lady of Annihilation, Rob Fusco’s delivery was, I felt, pretty strong. With this latest release he’s started to go with more screaming and extended yells than the more shouted hardcore style he used on the last album. The vocal change up really fits in well with the driving pace of the rest of the band. The backing vocals that have been added really give the songs on this album some depth and maturity not found on previous releases.

Production wise, the band seems to have incorporated the use of some samples and the “reverse echo” effect on Rob’s vocals. The samples I can live with, but have strong feelings for their use in any band’s albums (expect more on this at a later date). I can live with the echo sound effects when used in moderation. I’m a firm believer in letting your front man’s delivery speak for itself, but an echo every now and again is acceptable. It almost borders on annoying on this album since it’s used in at least three different tracks.

Other than that minor nitpick, this is another strong release from Most Precious Blood.

Favorite Tracks:
Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves
Damage Control Freak
Mad as the March Hare
World War You

Additional Notes:
Packaged with PETA dvd for those interested.