Somewhere between the proto black metal of Bathory and Celtic Frost-esque death lies the music of this forgotten band. Muddy
production values, steady thrash tempo and shouted vocals in the style of 80’s hardcore punk – they make my throat sore. The “hooks” lie buried deep beneath the vocals – the ragged guitars are trying to carry the songs to their apocalyptic conclusion but like Pure Holocaust era Immortal they try to create an irrefutable sense of hopelessness and doom through atmosphere.
Surprisingly enough the best cut on this slab of doom and despair is the aptly titled “The Final Conflict” which follows different rules for creating atmosphere – through escalating the tension and then coming back to the initial monster riff motif so as to create stark contrast. (I have a feeling that somehow, “Fight Fire with Fire” was inspired by this)
What they were trying to do here is not to crush and alienate the listener through being, what the kids call, “brootal”, and their playing is not overtly technical though I have no doubts that they have the chops to play most things, sloppy even (something that was changed and addressed by Master, the band which arose from the ashes of Death Strike), what they try to communicate is pure helplessness and a nihilistic view of life in our present decaying society. All that is left after the buzz stops in its thudding fuzzy path is a satisfaction of having seen the world from a different lens.
The band disintegrate soon after this, but not before leaving an indelible mark on metal culture.
–Baba T
thatdoesntsoundright.wordpress.com 
This is where the backlash begins. Critics panned this album, and consumers stayed away, thereby allowing Pavement to abandon all hopes of crossover mainstream success and slink back to the underground where they felt happier and more comfortable. It’s easy to see why: this album can be tough to sit still for. It’s not just that Pavement have incrementally slowed down the pace, but more the sheer bulk of the record: 18 songs. 18 songs! Do we want to sit still for 18 songs from anybody? Like most albums of this length, it has the advantage of added stylistic breadth, and the distinct disadvantage of highly inconsistent material. Starts off uncharacteristically with the Big Star balladry of “We Dance”, and winds its way through catchy anthems (“Rattled By The Rush”) and terribly uncatchy anthems (the complete mistake “Fight This Generation” – the worst of all Pavement wannabe anthems). Quite a bit of this falls flat – the Fall-style “Brinx Job” with Malkmus’ lame sub-Brainiac vocals sounds forced, and the faster, noisier numbers (mostly the fault of Scott Kannberg) are tuneless aberrations that disrupt the flow. However, digging for the better numbers is worth it, and after a few listens you start to notice a Western motif creeping up, with this dusty-windy slow mood numbers that recreate the feel of a dry Arizona day. Oh, and the titles of the last three songs are a dead giveaway – “Pueblo”, “Half a Canyon”, “Western Homes”. A concept album? Maybe these guys are art-rockers at heart after all…. Overall, an A for effort, a C or B- for execution. Since I appreciate bands taking chances and forging into the unknown, I’m being lenient by assigning this album the grade I gave it above (which roughly translates into a B ).
Spam is just getting very informative. Interesting.
-Baba T