Relentless fury; that’s the best way to describe the latest assault on ears from Get The Shot. The 5-piece hardcore group from Quebec have just dropped their fourth LP, titled “Merciless Destruction”. That’s almost a better description for the music within the record than my description above. 11 tracks and 38 minutes in duration, the group is here to carry out their rampage without any nonsense. Blending sounds from thrash, hardcore, death metal and anything else with a bad attitude, “Merciless Destruction” is a furious offering from the group.
It’s been five years since their last record, “Infinite Punishment”. This album was damn heavy, yet they’ve certainly upped themselves with their latest record. It feels as if they created “Merciless Destruction” with two things in mind: make it as intense as possible for a live audience, but still put their progression as musicians and as a band on display for everyone to appreciate. Gang vocals are a call to arms for each listener, and beatdowns are their brand of pure earth-crushing power, made even more malevolent through the production of the album.
Christian Donaldson mixed and mastered the record, and he knew exactly what was needed to beef up the sound to the point where the listener would feel unsafe, even if they were listening to it in the safety of their bedroom. Drummer David St-Pierre has easily fulfilled his duties of providing an oppressive and powerful rhythm to the record. His drum performance goes hard, and I feel for that poor snare drum. Guitarists Tom Chiasson and Olivier Roy are there to constantly put pressure on the listener. Chugs are abundant, riffs are stank face-inducing, and when paired up with Dany Roberge’s thick rattling bass, the instrumentals are a destructive force that barely let up at all throughout the album.
Tracks like “Terminal Slaughter” and “Deathbound” show a cool progression from previous records, bringing in a lot more melody, technical riffing, but still holding that animalistic attitude that Get The Shot is known for. “Diabolus Vobiscum” is a nice little interlude track showing the darker and broodier, yet softer side of the band. This is emphasized big time in the closing track “Season of the Damned II”, a huge yet welcome change of style for the band in this record.
“Merciless Destruction” Album Artwork
Jean-Philippe Lagacé is on another level in the latest offering from Get The Shot. His vocal range continues to grow more and more dynamic. Better yet, his ability to swap from high raspy screams to nail-gargling growls is seriously impressive. It’s as if a demon absorbed the vocals of both Bryan Garris and Isaac Hale from Knocked Loose and added some extra evil into the combination. The build-up during “Seeds of Dissension” shows that rapid vocal switch, and the furious callout before the breakdown for “Survival Denied” is an example, as well. It sounds like Lagacé is putting every particle of energy he has into this record, and the result is an overpowering performance that has the listener either intimidated, or seriously revved up.
Lagacé’s clean vocals are much more frequent on this album also, and it’s welcomed with open arms. The final track “Season of the Damned II” is a sorrowful, yet epic ballad that blew me away when I first heard it. The final track off of each album Get The Shot have released is always something different, something memorable to tie the record up in a tragic yet neat bow, and “Season of the Damned II” fulfills this role perfectly. I’m definitely hoping that this is a sound they lean into in future releases, as it adds another unique personality to the band and a well-deserved spotlight on Lagacé’s clean vocals.
“Merciless Destruction” is a big step forward for Get The Shot, to put it simply. The group is exploring new versions of themselves but still lashing out with that unyielding aggression that they’re known and loved (or feared) for. Whilst sometimes I feel that the tracks blur into each other a little too easily, they still have their own unique moments that widen your eyes and rattle your bones. If you’re looking for half an hour of raging aggression, with a nice dash of melody, then this record is for you.
Released On: October 7, 2022
Released By: New Damage Records
Genre: Hardcore/Metal
Musicians:
- Jean-Philippe Lagacé / Vocals
- Dany Roberge / Bass
- Tommy Chiasson / Guitar
- David St-Pierre / Drums
- Olivier Roy / Guitar
“Merciless Destruction” Track-list:
- Ultimate Warfare
- Seeds of Dissension
- Survival Denied
- Deathbound
- Bloodbather
- Reign in Blasphemy
- Terminal Slaughter
- Diabolus Vobiscum
- Divination of Doom
- Blind to Peace
- Season of the Damned II
Order “Merciless Destruction” HERE
'Merciless Destruction' is Get The Shot's best work to date. They have found a way to inject even more fury into their music, whilst showing us that melody and vulnerability have a place in their music as well. The production delivers the group's 11 tracks with intense heaviness, and Jean-Philippe Lagacé's vocals have well and truly taken a step up once again. This is potentially one of the heaviest and angriest albums of the year.
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