Misery Index – Complete Control Review

Century Media Records

Misery Index return with Complete Control, their seventh proper album and the last one since 2019’s Rituals of Power. Jason Netherton and crew have been a dependable force in extreme music since their inception in 2001 with no member turnover in over a decade, leading the band to put out some of their most true to type deathgrind material to date.

Complete Control is just over 30 minutes of crushing extremity that gives the listener not much of a chance to breathe between the verses of these nine tracks.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it is a good theme to describe the last few Misery Index albums, going back as far as 2014’s The Killing Gods. You know what to expect from the band. It could be the riffs courtesy of Mark Kloeppel and Darin Morris, the pounding drums of current Pig Destroyer drummer Adam Jarvis or Netherton’s vocal style either of those make for something great about the collective cohesiveness.

Opening the album is “Administer The Dagger” with a slow paced atmosphere at the outset, before diving headfirst into Netherton’s shouted vocals and eventually buried in a wall of speedy death metal riffing. “Rites of Cruelty” is a powerful track that showcases just how the band is capable of stopping and delivering a bit of fat groove to their overall pummeling, making for some of their most memorable riffs to date. “Conspiracy of None” is another song surely to get a live crowd all fired up bouncing varied tempos off the listener’s head, like a body in a mosh pit.

If you are looking for a consistently excellent and heavy listening experience, look no further than Misery Index. Their contributions to heavy music over the last 20 plus years haven’t received the amount of acclaim that they are rightfully deserving of. If Complete Control is your first experience with the band, then you’ll surely look back and stay for a while. Misery Index continue to be the real deal in 2022.

(released May 13, 2022 on Century Media Records)

Heavy Music HQ Rating:
4

Watch Misery Index – “Infiltrators” Video

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