PONTIUS PILATE hailed from the Pacific Northwest. They existed for a few short years before breaking up. One member moved east to Minneapolis and played in PROVOKED. This was their final recording.
Their sound is more Seattle than Portland. There is none of the Motorhead worship so prevalent in the Portland bands. Instead, PONTIUS PILATE has a lot of mid-range guitar and fast riffs. The vocals are screamed and almost hysterical, but light years away from being considered emo. When the vocals are at their fastest, I am reminded of ANTISCHISM. Both short songs have some incredibly tight, vicious riffing driven by anger and frustration. The last song includes a violin. It weaves a melancholy counterpoint into the almost epic angry thrash. In fact, one of PONTIUS PILATE's strong points is their ability to blend crusty speed with sparser, slower melodies.
The recording has all the instruments balanced, though there could be a bit more bass guitar. The distorted crunch of the guitars never interferes with the drums or vocals. Even the fastest track, File Error, never turns into a messy blur.
The lyrics deal with personal and cultural dehumanization. Track 2, File Error, is particularly relevant today; it deals with people living their lives on the Internet to the exclusion of their human needs.
This is definitely worth tracking down.
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