Whether it was Earache's doing or someone else's, an interesting sludge band has turned into an ordinary hardcore/grindcore project, in many ways reminiscent of their countrymen NAPALM DEATH in their early period. From a grind perspective, the release is quite decent, but the band had brilliant potential in a completely different interpretation of extreme music — potential they've nearly forgotten. If you appreciate the early MISTRESS works for their uniqueness, then here, unfortunately, for 40 out of the 50-odd minutes there's virtually nothing worth listening to. However, don't despair just yet — listen to the track "Static," and you can hardly believe your ears: we hear a beautiful solo and a chorus with clean vocals. It's followed by the purely grind track "At Arms Length." The closer we get to the end, the more we hear the influence of yet another genre — punk rock — especially noticeable in the track "Whiskey Tastes Better..." The penultimate "Talking To God" actually resembles alternative metal. But then listen to what comes next. The final track is executed in a sludge style — granted, we never get any vocals here, but do we even need them?! An excellent composition that largely saves the entire album!
