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If you ask someone who is familiar with Animosity what the band is like, chances are you'll hear a mention of the extremely young age of the band members. Sure, that has probably garnered them some attention by itself, but considering that these boys are just 16 and 17 years old, their music does comes across as even more staggering. In a sense, Animosity has reawakened the trash metal movement that exploded from the San Francisco Bay area, but also managed to inject some variety with influences from death metal and modern metalcore. The result is a recording that sounds like it should have come from seasoned metal veterans. Somehow, it didn't. "Shut It Down" is a well-rounded and fully explosive metal offering which, to be modest, hints at great things to come in the future.
When I bought "Shut It Down," the guy who I checked out with at the record store simply stated that the album will "kick your ass." There was nothing false to his few words, as Animosity's music is pummeling in all aspects. Imagine the variation and consistent changes in rhythms of Between The Buried And Me, but without any sign of clean singing, a bit more of an emphasis on thrash and death metal, and a slightly more obvious metalcore influence. Animosity doesn't play the tired "melodic death metal with breakdowns" style that has become pretty saturated of late, though. Their sound absolutely explodes with thrashing energy and intensity that isn't found in any run of the mill metal band, and it doesn't ever rely on a few breakdowns to keep things moving. Most songs have equal portions of death metal, blazing melodic death metal, and metalcore, and the mixture is top-notch, with every transition working with the utmost ease.
Although "Shut It Down" clocks in at only 22 minutes in ten tracks, the experience as a whole is enthralling and satisfying. There is nary a dull moment, and it seems as if the band managed to strip their songs to only the necessary passages, with any filler being crushed beneath the thunderous storm of metal. Songs like "Instilling The Affliction" last just over two minutes, but somehow manage to seamlessly drift from melodic death metal, to spastic blast beat-driven passages, to burly death metal, all in a matter of one minute. It's something that plenty of bands can do, but not any typical band can't break in and out of these contrasting styles with such natural transitions. And, although strange for a metal disc, a few gang shouts (like the "We'll fight for what is right!" line in the aforementioned song) find their way into the mix, and sound fucking great.
The recording quality of "Shut It Down" probably could have been a bit cleaner, but the slightly gritty sound it carries seems to assist it in packing just as much of a whollop. The drums sound pretty monstrous, the technical guitar wizardry is surprisingly audible, and everything from the vocalist's inhuman growls to his raspy screams are apparent in the mix. The bass parts can become lost at times, but things sound pretty full, especially during Animosity's chugging breakdowns and mid-paced grooves.
At such a young point in their musical career, one can hardly fathom what may come from Animosity in their future. "Shut It Down" is chock full of thrashing metal, malicious breakdowns and punishing death metal, and connoisseurs of any of the mentioned genres should find Animosity to be more than just average. These guys may have just learned to drive, but it sounds like they learned how to play metal when they were six. "Shut It Down" is undoubtedly one of the better metal releases to come out in 2003.
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