(By Brian Halsey, Staff Writer, RiffRelevant.com)
“OH!-IO!” Cleveland, stand up (or smoke up), you should be proud. Lemme drop a quick list of all the great things this city has bestowed upon Western civilization:
- 1. LeBron “KING” James, power dunking on every poor bastard in the NBA for the last 14 years.
- 2. Stipe “The Baddest Man on the Planet” Miocic, knocking dudes silly in the UFC’s Heavyweight division.
- 3. The Browns… well… the Browns suck.
- 4. CONTRA!!!!!!!!!!!
What I’m trying to say here is that CONTRA equals all the metal / sludge / doom / punk rock you need in order to accelerate some bad decision-making this summer.
Contra‘s latest release ‘Deny Everything‘, was released on July 1st, via Robustfellow Productions and Shifty Records. Recorded at Bad Back Studios in Cleveland, Ohio, mastering by Cauliflower Audio, with Aaron Brittain – Drums, Adam Horwatt – Bass/Guitar, Chris Chiera – Guitar, and Larry Brent on Vocals. CONTRA will get you raging harder than the first time LeBron skipped town for South Beach.
This is a fun, fast paced album with burly vocals and sweet guitar riffing throughout. ‘Human Buzzsaw’ gets the party started with a 70’s rock infused metal tune that will have you drop kicking empty Pabst cans at your best friends in no time. ‘Altered Beast’ is another extremely catchy track with a nice southern rock vibe that also boasts a respectable amount of cowbell.
‘Deny Everything’ is the type of album that does all of the stuff you love, but at the same time baits you into more listens by throwing in plenty of curve balls. Jams like ‘Dr. Goldfoot’ ensure you will still be paying attention long after some jackass passes out drunk and falls on top the Kyrie Irving jerseys that will soon be torched all over Cleveland. ‘Shrimp Cocktail’ closes out the album stronger than Michael Jordan nailing that final jumper in Craig Ehlo’s face.
I have to admit I was initially lured in by the cover art, which is basically two shredded gorillas shooting semi automatic weapons at an angry tribe of muscle sharks. Glad my instincts were right again, this album rocks from start finish.
Nice work Cleveland, CONTRA’s ‘Deny Everything’ will have you doing more dumb shit than Johnny Manziel on a Sunday (or any other day).
Not tired of my Cleveland references yet?
Drew Carey was right, that place does rock. LISTEN!
‘Deny Everything’ Track List:
1. Human Buzzsaw
2. Snake Goat
3. Altered Beast
4. The Gorgon
5. Humanoid Therapy
6. Son of Beast
7. Bottom Feeder
8. 100 Hundred Hand Slap
9. Dr. Goldfoot
10. Shrimp Cocktail
Contra has some upcoming shows – if in the greater Ohio area, check them out:
- > Thu 8/10 – w/ Pillars, Sunrot, God Root @ Now That’s Class, Cleveland OH
- > Sun 8/13 – w/ Supercorrupter, Matter of Planets @ The Hive Mind, Akron OH
- > Fri 9/15 – w/ Pale Grey Lore, Weed Demon, Cult of Sorrow @ The Space Bar, Columbus OH
- > Thu 9/21 – w/ Castle, Negative Reaction, Pillars @ Maple Grove Tavern, Maple Heights OH
