Children of Technology - Written Destiny (2020)

Italy's Children of Technology has always been a band I've wanted to like more than I do; their aesthetic blend of punk, thrash, speed metal, societal decay, mutant apocalypse leather and spikes has that inbred appeal to my inner child of the 70s and 80s, and they have always felt like what might have occurred had Voivod swerved their first few albums into a more Stateside crossover style. Now, I'm glad those Canadians did NOT do that, because they're the most amazing band ever and I've enjoyed just about every step of their journey...but I just mean to say that Children of Technology have that genuine 'cool 80s B-movie' vibe about them, and they've maintained it even through my mixed reactions to their full-length albums, of which Written Destiny is only the third...

And I'm happy to say, their best! 2010's It's Time to Face the Doomsday was fairly stylin', but their sophomore album didn't really further my appreciation. Written Destiny hit on all cylinders so fast for me that I purchased it almost instantly after giving it a test listen. There's a maturity here, a willingness to just settle into some great riffing blend of heavy/thrash metal which catches your attention right away and then holds it. I'm not saying that they've brought much nuance or invention to their niche, but straight up, the brazen metal crunch and wailing leads of "Soundtrack to No Future" set up their scythe-wielding, biker mutant aesthetic, and then the screaming and speed metal take you away to a far-flung land of radioactive bliss. Raw, nasty vocals, great gang shouts that resonate past them, and incendiary rhythm guitar tone just rattle every pleasure center in my being, and this one doesn't let up. There's DEFINITELY a huge nod to Voivod's War and Pain, and this almost sounds like a better mixed cousin to that, especially on the killer title track or the shuffling wasteland of "Desert City".

Granted, the vocals here have more of a mix of nasty nasal pinch to them than Snake's punked out pitch, but the use of the howled cleaner vocals also draws some comparisons, so they spice that up further with the occasional grunt and growl, and epic early Tom Araya screams. Riffs are very simple, like War and Pain filtered through some NWOBHM, a couple of the frillier riffs you'd expect from the blackened/speed sect so popular these recent years (for good reason). They writhe in some tremolo proto-death metal riffs here or there too, and it all gels together so well while maintaining a very down to earth, blue-collar feel to it. The riffs are never technical, not even original, but the album is simply a blast and everyone should own it, whether your jam is Manowar or Hellripper. Italy's got quite a good little scene of these bands, with Bunker 66 and Baphomet's Blood also whipping out some strong albums lately, and while Written Destiny definitely has more of the true heavy metal coursing through its nuclear bones, it's certainly one of the best in that scene to date.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/COTofficial

Children of Technology - Future Decay (2014)

This is a band I've always wanted to like a lot more than I do. The post-nuclear streetpunk get ups, the great artwork, the viciousness they exude from every radioactive pore...Children of Technology are like the likely villains from some giallo low budget, obscure knockoff of The Road Warrior and they have the musical hooks to sound the part, too...so why don't they fully capitalize on them? The answer is that they often write songs with too obvious punk chord progressions where a bit more spit, venom, and thrash would really do the trick. Don't get me wrong, their modus operati is one of punk and 80s speed metal fused into a fun time with perhaps a little bit of a pessimist message about our shared tomorrows (informed by more than a few cult bands, books and films), but where the songs are so huge on raw energy, they're conversely so low on memorable riffing that I feel let down. Their proper 2010 full-length debut It's Time to Face the Doomsday was good stuff, the best I've heard from them, but even there it fell shy of excellence due to the simple fact that they're not writing up to the potential of their image.

Future Decay goes louder and huger in scope, with a seemingly broader sound budget that gives the bass and rhythm guitars a lot of momentum, while DeathLörd Astwülf's half-growl/half-bark is just as petulant as ever. Never forget your umlauts, kids. As for musical influence, this is still heavily centered on the 'splatter-punk' sort of crossover that bands like Corrosion of Conformity, Cryptic Slaughter and The Accüsed (what'd I say about umlauts?), but there is far less muted thrash style picking in the riff selections. In fact, tunes like "Future Decay" and "Blackout" incorporate a total tough nut NYHC aesthetic that reminded me heavily of bands like Sick of It All, Killing Time, Cro-Mags or the first Crumbuckers record. Brazen, bold chords that are meant to represent a circle kick or a curb stomp to the listener, but unfortunately here the patterns seem redundant with those that have come before in three decades of that medium. That said, they're not exactly a one-trick pony with that style, since the bass lines show some obvious Lemmy influence and they also pitch in a few squiggling, nasty speed metal licks the likes of which you usually hear by a lot of blackened speed thrash metal bands like Deathhammer, Antichrist, Cruel Force, and so forth, which pair up pretty well with that pissed off/constipated vocal timbre.

The Italians do not shy away from some atmospherics here, which balance out some of the blander riffs so that they don't ultimately feel as generic as they might have. Cleaner, deep vocals will soar over the thrust of some punk riff into the leather 'n' spikes city night atmosphere, and the intro with the pianos and throbbing ambient backdrop definitely conjures up an 80s cheese/horror film vibe which I was silently praying would be captured throughout more of the album. That's just not the case, though, and while there is admittedly some variation between the tunes so they don't all bleed together into one indistinct, monotonous heap, I feel like they just never go far enough with them. When they toss the odd muted thrash/core breakdown or even a part that hinges on death/thrash, it's just too banal sounding and never involves anything intricate or unique. The French band Zoldier Noiz, who toil around in this same pulp dystopian wheelhouse, do a slightly more interesting job of taking a fairly typical riff set and then owning it, putting a slight dissonant spin on it which feels fresher. And that's the thing: Children of Technology has an absolute shit kicker of a concept running here (and they always have), but too many of these retro theme bands settle for less when it comes to writing the music...

Don't settle for looking cool and trashing the bar. Burn the whole motherfucking street down in a frenzy! Write music that sounds like a swarm of giant mutant hornets on motorcycles, not just what-Exploited-riff-can-I-paraphrase-next! Have you not heard Animosity, Killing Technology, Life of Dreams or Rrröööaaarrr (umlauts!!!)? Those albums did what this one wants to, 27-30 years ago, and they sounded a lot more genuinely fucked up, brilliant and nasty doing it. Future Decay isn't a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, the production itself is superior to the music. But let's face it...Mel Gibson would kick this thing's ass before the opening title, where the first Children of Technology album might have at least made it a few more scenes before being run over.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/COTofficial

Children of Technology - Mayhemic Speed Anarchy EP (2012)

Though never the most reticent of metal bands, Italy's Children of Technology really wear their hearts on their sleeves so boldly that the bloodstains will never come off in the wash, no matter what super strength detergent used in the purge. A colored chrome logo proudly transforms the group's logo into something belonging to the past, giving impressions of Razor or other such 80s blitzers, and the 7" EP's title of Mayhemic Speed Anarchy provides a blunt summary for those not yet in the know about their retro pandering style. This is a band courting a hybrid of punk, speed and thrash metal aesthetics which has generated a healthy chainsaw buzz through the underground in the past few years, and the tracks here are in no rush to break the mold whatsoever, which is business as usual, and what many are no doubt looking for in their sound.

"Mayhemic Speed Anarchy" is thus pretty standard fare for the Italians, a wall of forceful, brazen punk chords pumped up to early 80s metallic acceleration and woven through with crazy fits of lead work and corrosive gutter bark vocals redolent of the crossover splatter titans of the past, complete with screams that recall old Razor or Slayer in their petulant sense of infectiousness. The drums and bass are simplified and streamlined to accompany the narrow selection of riffing, but I enjoyed the pumping low end tone and the rather thrown-together, authentic feel of the beats nonetheless. Problem is there just isn't all that much here, and the main guitar progressions feel as if they've just been paraphrased from numerous crossover/punk influences and barely spiced up beyond the leads. This is energetic, propulsive stuff fit for a circle pit, but it never really goes beyond that, and I found it inferior to a number of tracks from It's Time to Face the Doomsday, their first proper full-length from 2010 which was pretty good. I definitely derived an aesthetic appeasement from the tune, but it's not catchy enough for many replays.

The B-side is better, but that comes with a caveat that it's a cover of Swedish punks' "Computer World" (from their 1989 album Faces of Death). The riffs are again pretty straight punk rock, but there's a bit of natural dissonance to the chords which gives it an almost archaic Teutonic aggression. I also really dug that unhinged wildness of DeathLörd Astwülf's pavement scraping growls and grunts here, and the band's frivolous solo work complements the momentum of the original rhythm guitars. Of course, I was already a fan of this original tune, so I'm probably a bit biased in its favor, but Children of Technology manage to have some fun with this and make it their own due to the vocal variation. All told, Mayhemic Speed Anarchy isn't a bad little 7" if you're in the mood for a collectable, or if you enjoy C.O.T. for their past works, but with just around 7 minutes of content, it wouldn't be a great starting place for newcomers, who could make a b-line for It's Time to Face the Doomsday or the Chaosmutant Hordes EP.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

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Children of Technology - It's Time to Face the Doomsday (2010)

Splayed out in leather, bullet belts, mohawks, mutton chops, vests, and more patches than you'd find at an open air headbanger festival, the Children of Technology cut a pretty unusual figure on the Italian scene. We've come to know the place for symphonic and progressive metal, with black and death scenes developing, but a nuclear splatter crossover band? That's news. Well, this unit have been busy in the past few years since their 2007 inception, producing a number of splits and singles, and it was only time until their novelty caught some attention, enabling them to release their full-length debut It's Time to Face the Doomsday on CD through Hell's Headbangers. To say that they belong on such a roster is merely an understatement, because there is really nothing about this record that reeks of anything post 1987...

Children of Technology do not hide their influences, in fact they tout them rather openly. The music is a mix of old school punk/hardcore and thrash, placing them somewhere among the rank and file of Discharge, (early) Corrosion of Conformity, Cro-Mags, D.R.I., The Accüsed, The Exploited, and Cryptic Slaughter. DeathLord Astolfi's vocals sound like a chain smoker with gravel down his throat, and I am reminded of both Snake's work on the early Voivod albums, and Chris Notaro from the cult legend Crumbsuckers' debut, Life of Dreams. This is a fairly difficult style to pull off, not because of any implicit complexity in the writing or performance, but to actually write songs that feel somewhat more than mere derivations of the many acts preceding them in the constituent genres. To this extent, I feel the Italians have at least succeeded where many others do not.

"New Enemies to Hunt" provides a nuclear inauguration, crass punk rhythms and gang shouts aplomb after the rock and roll setup, and you'll notice that the Children don't exactly rush through their material. This is one of the shorter tracks on the album at 2:43, about double the length written by many such acts, so there's something more substantial about it. They don't exactly front load the stronger songs though, and "It's Time to Face the Doomsday" and "No Man's Land" waltz by like toxic punks inhaling spray paint before we finally get to some more ass kicking riffs in the "Symptom of the Universe"-like "Racing Through the Valley of Death", the frenzied "No Fuel...No Hope!", the hardcore Armageddon of "Escape from the Danger Zone" and moodily introduced "Screams from the Earth", which summoned up delightful memories of the old Voivod albums I used to headbang through while my balls were still dropping.

As a definitive statement of European splatter punk thrash, It's Time to Face the Doomsday is more than adequate, though the initial few tracks are rather weak on the riffing, and there is nothing so atmospheric here beyond a nuclear strike siren or the propulsion of the band itself. Half of me feels like there is not a lot of room in crossover to innovate, but the other half reminds me that most bands don't even try. Children of Technology aren't writing outside of their major influences, and if anything, they play it rather safe. This is the kind of band I'd like to hear filthier, messier, and far more radioactive as they sing anthems to the end times and beyond, wasteland mutants hurling empty liquor bottles at graffiti strewn walls as they cook their enemies in oil drums for consumption. Considering the relatively young age of the project, I get the feeling there is plenty of room yet to carve out their place in the apocalypse.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/childrenoftechnology