About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

Comeback by '90s straight edge crusaders doesn’t match the classics.



Pros

• Angry enough to incite any moshpit.
• Karl Buechner’s vocals are still fierce.

Cons

• Songs are often repetitive.
• Band’s sound hasn’t evolved.

Description

• Released May 5, 2009 by Century Media Records.
• First Earth Crisis record since 'Slither' (2000).
• All of the band’s members follow a vegan straight-edge lifestyle.

Guide Review - Earth Crisis - 'To The Death'


Earth Crisis has always been propelled by passion and an almost messianic zeal for their underlying social messages. Since their humble beginnings in Syracuse, N.Y., the band helped mainstream straightedge and animal rights movements in hardcore and metal. Their comeback album To The Death shows a band that hasn’t lost a bit of their energy and is still capable of pummeling riffs.

But in a year packed with comeback releases in which bands expand on their legacy (Brutal Truth and Absu, for example) the greatest shortcoming of To The Death is that Earth Crisis plays it safe. Songs like “To Ashes” will sound strong played live alongside classic material, but the album doesn’t match the benchmarks Gomorrah’s Season Ends and Destroy The Machines.

Earth Crisis’ specialty is loud metalcore that quickly turns a placid crowd into a rabid pit. With a few exceptions they’ve stuck with this format throughout their career. The issue with To The Death is that since the band went away the bands they inspired have become much better musicians.

Earth Crisis is still playing like it’s 1996. There are limits to technical playing and some of today’s bands take things too far. However, when compared to the bands that replaced them Earth Crisis sounds almost painfully straightforward. A little risk taking would have been appreciated.

Earth Crisis still has a vital role to play in today’s scene. The band has never compromised on their ideals or their sound. While their comeback is somewhat disappointing it’s also nice to have the veterans back.