Napalm Death Guitarist’s Menace: U Jam?

More than one thing will surprise you about Menace, the new project from Mitch Harris of Napalm Death. Sure, very little is legit “surprising” anymore, yet you may agree that the words “Mitch Harris,” “Napalm Death” and “Menace” seem to prep ears for an album of super-brutality. Wrong! And euphorically so, for Menace draws from the washed-out melodic passages of Fear Factory, the clicky industrialisms of Pitch Shifter, and the sad-computer vocals of Cynic and Between The Buried And Me.

And Harris sticks with it: At no point over Impact Velocity‘s 13 tracks does Menace jump tracks, which shows Harris’ fearlessness. It means that he trusts that vibe without breaking it up with jackhammer riffs (like FF) or sprawling tech-death (BTBAM). Think of a hang glider vs. a small plane; one can open up the engines when altitude drops. Aided by his Napalm mate Shane Embry and drummer Derek Roddy (ex-Hate Eternal), Harris relies not on dynamics and virtuosity but on melodies and message, both as potent as Cynic — and a bit heavier. (Per the latter, Menace devotes an entire track to plainly speaking Harris’ higher-consciousness humanism.) Impact Velocity is propelled by one person’s single conviction, and that’s how it keeps you riveted over so many sets of intro-verse-chorus-etc. And that — not Harris’ history and helpers — is the real surprise. U jam?

Stream Impact Velocity below and at All Music Guide here. Pre-order here.