Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

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Band
Intolerant
Title
Reasons For Unrest
Type
LP/EP
Company
Solid Shape
YOR
2008
Style
Heavy/Extreme
1/13/2009 - Review by: Hail and Kill

Intolerant
Reasons For Unrest

Company: Solid Shape Records
Release: 2008
Genre: Heavy
Reviewer: Hail and Kill

  • 85% is one pissed of anthem after another



  • When contemplating whose influential shadow Intolerant fall under, one can easily name drop Pantera, Black Label Society without the booze, and Down. So this means Intolerant play Southern Metal, right? Kinda...if you're willing to apply their supposed genre to South East Asia. Southern Metal from South East Asia; specifically the Philippines. Now how does that sound?

    Angry. That's how. It's the common denominator heard on eight of the ten songs inside "Reasons For Unrest", the band's indie debut via Solid Shape Records. Discounting an instrumental laced with audio clips from a Charles Manson documentary titled "Santiago" and the lazy mid-tempo closer "Abandoned", 85% of "Reasons..." is one pissed off anthem after another interspersed with schnazzy grooves and soulful vocals. You're tempted to call them Metalcore considering the in-your-face beefiness you're hearing (not to mention Intolerant's profuse thanks to Madball and Earth Crisis in the liner notes), but there's also generous helpings of Thrash, Iron Maiden influenced guitar solos, a hidden alternative rock ballad somewhere past the official running time, rock n' roll, glimmers of the last Machine Head album, even a smidgen of Death Metal...basically a lot of things that mix into a fine sonic cocktail. Metalcore? Not quite.

    To give the reader a clear idea of its best cuts, opener "Clenched Fist" starts the whole ride in grand fashion. Think Soulfly, the aforementioned Machine Head, and Lamb of God, then apply said influences to the next five tracks. Vitriolic numbers like "Agenda", "God of War", "My Demise", "Blunt Force Trauma", and the circle pit single "Death Toll Rising" collectively smash your face in; they burst from your speakers and stomp around your room then spank your ass when you least expect it.

    The songwriting on the album is also commendable. While most bands are still learning the nuts-and-bolts of composition on their first records, Intolerant already know how to craft muscular tunes with memorable choruses. It all boils down to experience, really, since Intolerant's lineup cut their teeth on a fair number of previous commitments. So they got the writing chops to compliment their music chops—what else? Nice production--meaning "Reasons of Unrest" is a serious investment, a labor of love despite its hateful words. (Try the chorus of "Agenda": "Hey you, the sight of you just sickens me/I really hate, hate the way you look at me/Oh how I wish, I wish I could erase your face/and free you from your misery")

    Intolerant aren't perfect—-yet. But they make you wish 99% of the bands starting out today release debuts as strong as theirs. Nasty stuff.



    • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
      4 :AVE RATING

    ALL REVIEWS FOR: INTOLERANT
    TITLE
    DOR
    COMPANY
    REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
    Reasons For Unrest
    2008
    Solid Shape
    Hail and Kill1/13/2009
    4

    ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: INTOLERANT
    INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


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