Police State is a quartet from York, PA (USA), featuring some members from Bittered. The band has the same mind set, the same lyrical themes and the same sheer brutality as Bittered but takes on a more violent approach with a thunderous tempo. In fact, in some way this could be seen as aggressive death metal, influenced by hardcore punk and grindcore.
After a noisy intro, 'Oath' immediately destroys everything that is still good and just in the world. For a while, and during most of the following songs, I thought about Sepultura's version of 'Drug Me'. As many people know, that song is an intense piece of death metal and certainly a live favorite. Well, Police State easily repeats that a few times, creating crushing songs like 'Pure Filth' and 'Cease To Exist'.
Funny thing is, I'm actually not even a big fan of crust punk but I really dig this little gem, probably because of the earlier mentioned Sepultura reference. Besides, there's a song named 'Propaganda' on this tape, what else could I compare this with? This is absolutely a death metal track, and one that will rip you apart with great ease. If that song didn't do the trick, 'Resolution' well. Fuck, this is an awesome song.
Police State stands for raw, primitive, in-your-face metal and play their music with crushing intensity. I can easily imagine this being a bomb on stage and I hope I ever get the chance to witness them live. I recommend every extreme metal fan to listen to this and go to their shows. At least for once you'll enjoy yourself with a 'police state' in stead of being tortured by it...
Serge