Diamond Plate- Generation Why?

For those who have been following this blog for a while, you know that I have been high on Diamond Plate since the first time I heard their Relativity E.P. about a year ago. Now, the Chicago area band are set to release their debut album on August 9th in the US via Earache Records. And let me tell you, it's another awesome thrash album for 2011.

The album opens with an intro track entitled "Entertainment Today". The track does an excellent job setting the tone for the rest of the album (the bands disgust with generation y and the rest of the world) by opening the album up with news clips from around the world. This intro segues right into the first "real" track "Generation Why?"The track is one of the better ones on the album with a nice, catchy chorus "I ask you why?" shouted by vocalist/bassist Jon Macak. As the album moves along you begin to realize that Diamond Plate are some seriously skilled musicians. Songs like "Pull The Trigger" and "Tomb With A View" have some incredible riffage in them.

As the listener gets deeper into the album three songs appear that were on the bands Relativity E.P. "Relativity", "Casualty of War", and "At The Mountains of Madness". These may be the three best tracks on the album. They are all out thrashers that sound much better than they did on the E.P. The band  finishes the album with "Empire Tomorrow", an all-out thrasher that leaves the listener feeling as though they have been run over by an eighteen-wheeler. 

Generation Why? is an excellent debut album and one of the best albums of the year (right up there with Toxic Holocaust's Conjure And Command and Ghost's Opus Eponymous). The guitar riffing and drums beats are complex and show the band's musical prowess (which is far beyond their years. The oldest member of the band is 18). The only minor complaint I have with this album is the vocals. They take some getting used to as at first they sound somewhat like something you would find on a screamo album. However, on repeated listens they do seem to fit with the album rather well.

4.5 out of 5

1. Entertainment Today

2. Generation Why?

3. Pull The Tigger

4. Tomb With A View

5. Fool's Paradise

6. Relativity

7. Waste of Life

8. Casualty of War

9. More Than Words

10. At The Mountains of Madness

11. Empire Tomorrow