Doctorshopper- Degenerate UtopiaCan you believe the quality of the very deep underground scene? The sheer number of awesome demo's and tapes available is staggering. It's almost overwhelming really... maybe this is the feeling all these old-curmudgeon Metalfags have about the early 90's scenes...
Hailing from Los Angeles, Doctorshopper are just more proof that those decrying our modern scene as under-achieving are just cranky old men and thirteen year old's. A dug-fueled rage-er of Eyehategod, His Hero Is Gone and Darkthrone gone too far, Degenerate Utopia packs all the right parts into tight and heavy gutter hymns for the disenfranchised: "Cognitive Fog" blisters with Sludge-y Crust Punk bravado, while "Live Low And Prosper" drops the temperature of the room to "frostbitten" with it's raw moans before a little D-Beat kicks in near the end. Extended sections of feedback is an obvious crutch for transitional composition, but it's hard to find too much fault with the overall songwriting. Degenerate Utopia also hits all the marks lyrically, avoiding played out grimmness in favor of strong social commentary on such tracks as "Affordable Health Act" and "Recreational Emancipation," both of which reflect the hopelessness that many in this generation experience on a daily basis.
I find it difficult to progress beyond this point. Degenerate Utopia doesn't lend itself to paragraphs of explanation: it's brutally honest simplicity and skull-caving guitar tone do much of the talking for the albums twenty nine minute running time. This is not a bad thing, but it makes detailed compositional breakdowns difficult. With so much rage blasting at you from all directions, coming up with a phrase beyond "Hehehehe... evil" seems all but impossible. In the end, it all breaks down to this: Degenerate Utopia is a filthy slab of Blackened Sludge that will appeal to anyone who appreciates Extreme Music, and you should go ahead and get it.
Simplicity is pure fucking bliss.
Rating: 8/10
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