Misery / Extinction Of Mankind - 2001 - Apocalyptic Crust CD

This CD, released by Crimes Against Humanity, is a solid pairing by two bands whose influence has been felt throughout the crust genre.  First up is MISERY, from Minneapolis, MN.  They had been together for almost ten years by the time this was recorded.  Their sound is confident and mature, but still retains that crusty AMEBIX edge to it.  Most of their songs here follow a verse/chorus/verse structure.  My favorite song of theirs on here, One More Day, is quite different.  The lyrics consist of one long verse.  The words are paired up with shifting musical phrases which add a lot of variety to the song.
The other band here, EXTINCTION OF MANKIND, hail from the UK.  They have been around almost as long as MISERY, and also possess a similar musical confidence.  Their sound is similar to MISERY, but their bass guitar is more prominent in the mix.  Their sound is also similar to DOOM, with heavy guitars and gruff vocals.  Most of their songs are mid-paced, but EOM add some thrash bits for flavor.
Overall, this is a mandatory purchase for anyone interested in the crust genre.  My only complaint has to do with the CD’s sequencing.  Instead of having all of MISERY’s tracks, then all of EXTINCTION OF MANKIND’s tracks like a typical split CD, this disc has each band’s tracks interspersed.  Near the end there’s a noticeable difference in recording quality between the two bands.