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Just Cause - Finger it Out [BSR Recordings - 2001]Tender ears beware, this is extreme metal! Brutal music with thrashy guitar riffs, relentless drumming and half-shouted, half-growled vocals. This is 25 minutes (plus a secret track) of good ol' brutality with a modern shine.As with Punchdrunk, another bands he's involved with, Gene "mostly made of metal" Hoglan gets some of the aggression out of his system. This time his acolytes are Partick Beaudoin (vocals, guitars, bass) who's also in Punchdrunk, Ricardo Forrester (guitars) and Chris Valagoa from Zimmers Hole (additional vocals). The production duties are handled by the band and Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad, Ocean Machine, Infinity, Physicist, Punky Brütser, Terria, etc) and I must say that at high volume the album can at times sound like a ton of bricks (yeah, I know, a ton of whatever kind of material is still a ton, but I'd much rather receive a ton of dry macaroni on the head than a ton of bricks...).This album could be described as modern thrash metal played with death metal intensity; you won't find any compromises on this album: pure in your face metal is what you get! The closest comparison in sound is of course Punchdrunk, but this time the singing is more even (Punchdrunk used a multitude of different singing styles) and it's less "funky" (if I might say so); there are no weird sound effects, exotic sounding guitar parts or movie samples and the songs aren't as dynamic; they don't breathe much and have few slower parts. This hurts the album a little since the constant "in your face" music can numb you after a while, but the whole thing is so short that it doesn't have time to become a major problem. The only time when the band sounds really playful is on the hidden track (which talks about "butt smoke"), but this doesn't mean that they take themselves very seriously during the rest of the album; it's just that it's not as evident since the lyrics are hard to decipher and are not included in the booklet.As for the performance, well, this is definitely the kind of album you need to listen to at full blast for the complete effect. Gene's drumming offers a kick in the ass, as always, and the guitars are definitely heavy and well played (even if there is no solos (those guys don't have time for solos! ah!)). The vocals are a little generic sounding and not very memorable, but they are definitely shouted with conviction and they help sustain the adrenaline rush caused by the musical pummelage.I can't rate this album higher because, although it is well played and will certainly help a bunch of people to bulk up at the gym, it lacks memorable songs. You see, I have a similar problem with this and Punchdrunk: it kicks ass but it lacks that little extra spark that makes it stand out and stick in your head. Of course it could be argued that when Just Cause wrote this material they weren't going for catchy songs and because of that they have accomplished exactly what they were trying to do, but I'll let you judge that theory by yourself. It really depends what you're looking for...If you feel like driving a bulldozer through the suburbs, this might be for you. It's solid, fun, well produced and well played even if it probably won't stick in your head for days or become your all time favourite. If you can live with that, have fun! Metal!This album is only available through the HDR website from what I could find out.  
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|  | | Just Cause - Finger it Out | Tender ears beware, this is extreme metal! Brutal music with thrashy guitar riffs, relentless drumming and half-shouted, half-growled vocals.
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