Getting Wrecked By TedTalks And Ancient Greeks, A Get Rekt Album Analysis: By M H Thomson.

 

Getting Wrecked By TedTalks And Ancient Greeks, A Get Rekt Album Analysis: By M H Thomson.

Get Rekt are a ferocious crossover/thrash metal outfit hailing from Geelong. They formed in 2019, just in time for a Wuhanese man to colossally botch his Ozzy Osbourne impersonation and bring the entire world grinding to a halt. Thus it has taken them until now to finally drop their debut full-length release Tales of 3D Fury. The following is my impression of the album, strap in folks, this one is a doozy:

 

Fool’s Gold:

 The tune opens with one hell of a bang, the riff mid-tempo but a  slow burner. Vocalist Stu McInnes belting the opening verse coupled with Drummer Marko Soulis’ varying drum fills do most of the heavy lifting in terms of building anticipation, whilst the guitarists pack on the tension. The song then explodes into the typically thrashy, tremolo-picking-laden main riffs. Stu’s dry, raspy, and commanding vocal delivery hurtles itself ever forward dragging the riffs along with it, although the ever-present main (verse/chorus) riffs never feel without purpose. The whole mid-section of the song feels like a modern update of a mid to late 80’s Slayer track, this is especially evident in the anti-religious vocal musings and the all too brief guitar solo. The breakdown that also eventually serves as the track's outro comes in right on cue, just as the chorus riff begins to tire. The breakdown/outro itself is a chuggy freight train of a beast that feels like a hardcore interpretation of the breakdown/outro to Lamb of God’s “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For”. A killer opening number.

 Cheap Jokes and Gunpowder:

 Another fast thrasher that opens with a build-up, however this time the drums increasing intensity falls flat on its arse as the guitar riff it was trying to build up to was already present and goes unchanged once the beat gets going. The lyrics are a somewhat baffling melee of put-downs and piracy metaphors, with no real linear structure. The first two verses blow by amidst a storm of tonally ascending riffs that then give way to a blistering guitar solo; lead guitarist Nick delivering the shred with licks reminiscent of the likes of Kirk Hammett and Dave Murray. The chorus tows an interesting line, as the vocal pattern leads the riff down a path redolent of the pre-chorus to “Scream, Aim, Fire” by Bullet for my Valentine. Not what I expected, but it works surprisingly well. Whilst the muffled lead lines add some nice nuance to the relatively generic breakdown riff, the way it climbs to the second chorus makes said chorus rather underwhelming when it kicks back in. Not the band's finest hour.

 Dreamweaver:

 This one takes off at full throttle and stays there. With a more metalcore approach to the riffage this time around. The guitars are string skipping galore with a jumpy and energetic melody punctuated nicely by the accompanying straight punk beat of the verse riff. The chorus is where this track really shines, Stu’s pleading vocals set against the whirlwind of diminished melodic guitar runs, really sells the desperation of wanting to wake up from a nightmare (the song’s main lyrical theme). The more hopeful-sounding titular verse is a nice shift of emotional centre and Nick’s soaring guitar solo just drives it all home. The solo feels like it was ripped straight from Iron Maiden’s “Blood Brothers” as it captures similar spiritual yearnings to said Maiden classic. As the song reenters the verse riff, the feel changes mid-riff into a swing groove that sets the song up perfectly for the conclusionary double chorus. All told a fucking blinder of a track.

Convexed:

 A tasty bass line opens proceedings, the low end, chunky and pounding, as bassist Shorty Lee ploughs through the main groove of what will eventually become the chorus riff. The guitars break in with some nice droning notes to accent the main groove. Once the vocals get going and carry us through the song, it becomes blatantly clear every riff in this track is centred around the same motif, one not dissimilar sounding to the pre-chorus of “R!OT” by Spoil Engine. Even going so far as to use a comparable guitar muffling effect to Spoil Engine leading out of the guitar solo. The guitar solo itself is a noisy affair, lots of notes not all of them clear, the section of hammer ons in the middle is particularly muddied by the sound of the pick scraping the strings. The lyrics here regard coercion and lying and the moments of realisation you've been lied to. After such a promising intro, the song's reliance on the incessant motif coupled with its unchanging tempo, whilst never monotonous, makes for an ultimately uninteresting track.

 Distractivist:

 A powerful but punky feeling groove metal number that belts you over the head. A kindred spirit to the likes of Pantera’s “Fucking Hostile” or the aforementioned Lamb of God’s “Contractor”. The frenzied assault is crammed chock a block with lyrics spat out at what feels like a mile a minute. The onslaught only slowing to recount the tune's one repeated lyric, that of “ageing ten seconds at a time”. The frantic pacing suits the lyrical theme of tempus fugit and how what we do in life is all a distraction from peering into the void, although it could have done without the wanky (read: pretentious) ancient Greek references to Omega and the goddess Iris. The highlight of the track is undoubtedly the solo section’s beautiful guitar harmonies which at once manages to sound both inspiring and of despair, furthering the vibe of the lyrical theme. A fucking banger of a track, and a welcome change after the relatively blasé previous track.

 Echo:

 One of the record's finer moments. Short, sweet and to the point. The track simply follows the same loop twice of verse/something/chorus, the “something” being a guitar solo the former time around and a breakdown the latter. The mixture of thrash and metalcore melody quite nicely echoes (pun intended) the feel of the record’s third number “Dreamweaver”. Clearly unashamed to wear their influences on their sleeves, the Slayer-esque moments in the track are a little on the nose but the tune hardly suffers for it. The lyrics are a particular stand out, so eloquently detailing the very human desire to voice your opinion and have it be heard, even if it is not necessarily a unique viewpoint. Something I think we can all relate to.

 Alpha:

 At first glance it seems the wanky ancient Greco-Roman references have returned with the title and the Chorus’s mention of Jupiter. However, upon closer inspection, the allusions to Jupiter do appear to be astronomical in this case, or perhaps it’s wordplay. The lyrics themselves amount to a motivational speech of sorts, regaling us with a message to keep pushing on, keep toiling away through the shit times as the rewards are worth it. Alas it comes off as something more befitting of a TedTalk than death metal lyrics. Musically the slower mid pace beat and busy guitar work merrily propel the song along. The relentless bass drum that grounds the chorus, plays nicely against the longer held guitar notes. And the panicked feel of Nick’s lead guitar part towards the end of the tune neatly reconciles the armageddon of the final verse. Despite this though, unfortunately as a song overall it falls into the same trap of borderline banality as “Convexed”.

The Eye:

 Honestly, crossover/thrash is not a subgenre of metal I regularly listen to and as such by the time I reached this track the nuance of the genre had been lost on me completely. It had all begun to sound the same, in a way that it wouldn’t for a more dire hard fan of the genre. Suffice it to say by the time I got to “The Eye”, all of the band’s signature tricks and tropes (most of which are present in this song) had worn tired. Even Stu’s powerful vocal technique by now appeared gratingly one note. Having said that, as a stand alone track it has a number of fun moments such as the pinch harmonic bends in the guitar solo that add a touch of bluesy twang to an otherwise shreddy solo. The way the string skipping of the chorus riff plays off the vocal pattern is very “Meddler” by August Burns Red and it really compounds the desperation of the chorus’s lyrical message. Speaking of the lyrics, they take the now very much precedented position of being on the backfoot in life, whilst nothing new as a subject, Stu opines them in such a way that feels genuine and is genuinely well written. On balance “The Eye” is a solid effort from Get Rekt, if perhaps a predictable one.

 Despite a smattering of shortcomings peppered throughout, overall this album is a dependable and steadfast display of Get Rekt’s brutal, melodic and groovy breed of crossover thrash. The band’s consistency and no-bullshit attitude affords the album the qualities that should effortlessly win over any metalhead with a pulse. If you love your crossover then even moreso. Definitely worth a listen.

 Out now and ready to rip your skull off:

https://getrektthrash.bandcamp.com/album/tales-of-3d-fury