Twelve Tribes

Rebirth of Tragedy (2004)

Bryan

Twelve Tribes hail from Dayton and bring their hardcore metal to the main scene with a brutal style that leaves you in awe, and non-metal fans with a headache so big they feel like their head's gonna explode. Seriously, Twelve Tribes is a mix of pounding drums, guitar riffs, double bass, and shouting by Adam Jackson, and only at the choruses is a touch of melody present. Jackson loves to shout and get on the case of politics, major issues, religion, and other categories. They also have a song or two about personal things, which are also good. Also, who can forget the ending of "Baboon Music;" "I like blacks, whites, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Jews, Gentiles, police…"

The CD begins fast with "Post Replica" and flows so well into "Baboon Music" that it's near impossible to realize when the switch occurs. The next two tracks, "Translation of Fixes" and "Venus Complex," are the two singles off the CD and have a little bit more melody. Then the onslaught of hardcore shouting occurs for the rest of the CD, with "Chroma" being the rare exception. "Chroma" is pretty melodic, and has some strong lyrics ("I sleep in gasoline on the burning floor").

"Praise the new drug!" is the way the Twelve Tribes start off "Backburner" as they get in drug companies' face with this song. "The Train Bridge" is the longest song, coming in at 6 minutes and 34 seconds and drags a little, but has an interesting bridge with some good guitar riffs.

"Godshaped War" is one of the heaviest songs on the CD with a headache-inducing drum line with heavy riffs and solid screaming. "Luma" follows and is one of the best songs mainly due to the singing and once again, the music is great. "Flight of the Pathogen" is a good song overall.

Overall, I really like this album. It is one of my favorite albums of all-time from one of my favorite bands because it mixes hardcore with metal, has great guitar work, and I really like the vocals by Adam. I can't wait to see more from this band as their next CD should be out sometime next year…