Step Cousin excellent Christian thrash metal. We just acquired these, some of the very last copies of this classic release.
brand new and sealed.
1. In My Darkest Hour (4:11)
2. Behind the Veil (4:57)
3. The Evolution Religion (6:02)
4. Tear On My Pillow 4:21)
5. Obituary (4:40)
6. A Friend Like You (4:43)
7. Cold (5:18)
8. Scarred (4:55)
9. Life and Dreams (5:40)
10. I Don't Need It (3:26)
11. This Is the Time (4:16)
Jeff Grady and Kelly Matthews return in 2010 with their third Step Cousin release, once again self released on their own Corduroy Boy label. Step Cousin's sound is often described at thrash metal, and that most certainly is a big part of their sound. However, this is not straight forward thrash metal, nor is it an attempt at retro-thrash. As in the past, Step Cousin allow some of their influences to come through their music. "Behind the Veil" has some obvious and blatant similarities to classic Mortification. This up-tempo song is a death/thrash song for the most part with growled vocals, save for the chorus which is groove based and features clean, shouted vocals. The song also has two mid-paced breakdowns with a wah-wah solo, one in the middle of the song and one at the end. The title track is perhaps one of the best songs on the album and again has some similarities to Mortification, including the growled vocals. The song is features a heavy riff and some hard hitting lyrics about the creation vs. evolution debate. There are some bits of someone preaching about the debate sprinkled throughout the song as well. Following the first bit of preaching the band breaks into a progressive, instrumental section that offers a definite nod to Tourniquet. "Tears on My Pillow" is a speedy metal song with mostly clean vocals. There's an interesting audio sample break after the chorus of a woman speaking in German. (At least I think it's German.) Without going into each and every song, Step Cousin offer a solid metal album that mixes together modern thrash and groove with some old school death metal vocals and some clean vocals. I personally like Kelly Matthews more aggressive death and thrash metal style vocals over the cleaner singing voice. The band also offers up a few other surprises such as a dueling flute and guitar solo in "A Friend Like You".
Artwork by Troy Dunmire who is known for his work with Mortification. I find this to be one of his better illustrations, ranking up with Mortification's "Primitive Rhythm Machine".