Nails, You Will Never Be One of Us
Few bands in recent memory have been as aggressive and ruthless musically as Nails. Their latest full-length, You Will Never Be One of Us is repeated shotgun blasts to the face until there’s very little left of your skull for family members to recognize. It’s violent. It’s memorable. And it’s an album that every fan of metal should own.
If you want a synopsis of what to expect in the ten songs found on this album, simply listen to the opening title track. Nothing you will hear afterwards will match the unbridled mayhem that Nails deliver in a short minute and a half. Chugging, head-banging mosh bookended by frenzied, buzzing guitars and barbaric drum work. What more could you want in a lead-off song? Unless, of course, you make your way to the chaotic “Friend to All,” as it blisters your eardrums with vitriol and spite.
“Made to Make You Fail” offers a rolling, chugging intro before the accelerator is slammed to the floor and your head thrown into a tailspin of swirling, squealing guitars and burly bass lines. You have but a second or two to catch your breathe before the trio unleashes further hell on your battered carcass with “Life is a Death Sentence” and “violence is Forever.” This pairing of songs slams chugging, pit-friendly mosh down your gullet with scalding vocals more angst than you can shake your withered fist at. The chug of the latter will have neck sore for days.
This is another one of those albums that sticks around for a long while. You just don’t want to shelve it in favor of any other album. It’s memorable, angry as fuck and one that you want to blow out your car’s speakers with while sitting in rush hour traffic on your way home from the day job. Nothing wrong with sharing pissed off hardcoe aggression and grinding guitars with a few hundred sacks of shit also mired in that traffic jam.