Corrupt Moral Altar - Patiently Waiting For Wonderful Things



If you like your metal extreme, you need to listen to Patiently Waiting For Wonderful Things. With perhaps the most visceral release from the UK this year (yes, even up against Napalm Death), CMA have crafted an energetic blast of refined anger that shines with tongue-in-cheek humour and fantastic musicianship. 

Cathedral of Porn kicks down the door with a crossover thrash swagger before absolutely destroying the rest of the analogous room with blast beats so quick they'll break your neck. You Smell Expensive slows down the tempo ever so briefly, but only so the track can stamp on your head effectively. Swirling bass notes and searing vocals proceed utter chaos of the highest degree. The two opening tracks set the stage incredibly well for the EP: this is going to be a white knuckle ride through grindcore, but leaning heavily into the hardcore punk elements that give a fantastically fresh feel to the release. 

Maximum Bastardry ups the ante with sing along hooks and punchy, percussive riffs packed in so tightly the track could burst. Around the 1 min 40 mark the track breaks into a disgustingly heavy, writhing mass of musical hate, perhaps the most atmospheric moment of the album up to this point. That title is usurped immediately by the clean chords that open Spirit Breaker, which is quickly revealed to be a fake out, hiding a barbed wire knuckle, complete with gutturals and blast beats. After two minutes of visceral grind, the outro to Spirit Breaker may be one of the most compelling, original pieces of metal music that I've heard in a very long time. I'm not going to try to use words to try to describe it, I don't think it'd do it justice. Listen to it. 

Closing track I Am An Ocean Of Wisdom, ramps up the intensity in a final killing blow, with barking vocals and jagged, buzz saw guitars threatening to cut your head clean off. The production is startlingly crisp for an album of this intensity, feeling very akin to being at a well mixed live show instead of listening to a recorded product. 

My hat is well and truly off to these gents. Patiently Waiting For Wonderful Things is a well executed prison shanking of an album. Brutal, short, deadly. Top marks.

JC

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