Pusht

Following Punchline alphabetically in the local metal index is Pusht, a five-piece outfit with two vocalists who speak their lines with dangerous volume and naked rage in a manner reminiscent of the Rollins Band and Biohazard. Also, like the aforementioned acts, Pusht delivers what its album title advertises, injecting plenty of streetwise swagger into its songs. However, this isn’t a mindless soundtrack for violence from a bunch of fight-club-founding macho men. For example, Pusht sets an actual poem (by Allison Werth) to music on the chugging, bass-driven track “There You Are.” The album is broken into five subsections, and although the music remains heavy throughout, the lyrical content reflects the names of the categories — the poignant social commentary of “Heth” is placed in the “Preaching” section, while such hardcore sing-alongs as “Falter” and “Fake” fall under the “Brotherhood” flag. Kurt Schlotzhauer’s drum sound is appealingly thick, especially on “Ostricized,” while guitarist Eric Durbin crafts an engagingly gloomy intro to “Black Rage.” With a few tunes offering traces of melody and with spoken vocals not far removed from the ever-popular rap/metal craze, Pusht has the potential to draw from a variety of fertile fanbases.