ALBUM REVIEW: MEGAMASS - ‘DIVIDE AND LIBERATE!’
MegamasS is a long-running Ukrainian metal band about to set the world ablaze with their first English language record, their pummeling new EP, Divide and Liberate! Their latest release comprises three dazzling metal tracks packed into an eleven-minute runtime. Ordinarily, this might seem like a brief jaunt, but MegamasS are pros and pack every second of Divide and Liberate! to the brim with crazy heavy and ridiculously catchy nu-metal meets metalcore mayhem.
Right out the gate, the opening track, “Bad Credit,” lets the listener know that MegamasS isn’t playing around. The track begins with fantastic feedback and electronic flourishes amidst a slow-building musical intro and stunning clean vocals before the band completes 180 after the one-minute mark and launches into a bludgeoning breakdown. We’re talking about monster riffs, diabolical kick drum patterns, and easily one of the filthiest bass guitar tones ever recorded. The lousy cop-screaming vocals complement the regular singing, mainly when both pipes compete over the song’s infectious guitar harmony outro.
Track two, “Her Name is War,” is the longest song on the EP and is a killer collection of machine gun riffage and double bass drum salvos. The middle portion is a trippy, melodic adventure that almost feels like it could stem from another band. That is until you remember that MegamasS consists of stellar magicians…er, musicians who seemingly love to switch genres at the drop of a hat. “Until the End” closes the record grandly. Again, the filthiest bass guitar plops that would make brutal death metal fiends blush sit comfortably beside a barrage of ear-piercing panic chords and harmonic squeals. The bass sounds like a swamp exploding, while the guitar sounds like a lightsaber imploding, especially the jaw-dropping tapping section.
Overall, Divide and Liberate! is a masterclass in yin-yang musicality. MegamasS excels at crafting brutal caveman music laced with catchy rock hooks and bits of technical prog tendencies lurking just beneath the surface. How they combine all these elements so fluidly is anyone’s guess…but it’s why Divide and Liberate! rules so much.
Listen to Divide and Liberate! below:
