By Monk
Named after one of the most popular submission moves in MMA, Texan quintet Rear Naked Choke live up to their name, locking you into a vice like grip and shaking you to the very core of your blackened rock ‘n’ roll soul for the duration of the five rounds of incessant action which this succinctly effective EP delivers, strike after strike.
Sonically drawing from the likes of Five Finger Death Punch and fellow Texans Drowning Pool, with whom they share a close affinity – DP’s CJ Pierce was supposed to produce this mini opus before the small matter of RNC guitarist Chris Summers breaking and dislocating two fingers on his fretting hand, moving recording back roughly five long months – ‘American Screams’ is a short, sharp to the system, a non-stop, uncompromising declaration of defiance, an archetypal rage against the machine (sic), as evinced immediately in the hyperactive and politically-charged opening title track, which rails and rants with vicious alacrity and intent.
‘Hammerfist’ lives up to its title, pummelling you into submission with unrelenting blow after blow, before ‘Long Time’ eases off on the gas but not the overall impact, its more subtle approach jabbing and teasing its way through what remains of your aural armour, showing that the band know how to combine melody with beatdowns, mat-savvy subtlety with remorseless submission holds (sorry, I couldn’t resist another MMA reference) that take you down faster than Kris Barras confronting a wannabe internet troll. And, by fuck and all the gods of fuckdom, they even manage to reference G’n’R in the verse sections of closer ‘SummerSong’! WTF?
Overall, ‘American Screams’ is a solid, taut EP which showcases a band who are, well, solid and taut and deliver the goods with a solid tautness.
- ‘American Screams’ is out now.