Angry, lively and on point.
That’s how Art of Shock’s, then unreleased, record first sounded when they sent it our way not too long ago. “From the streets of Hollywood to the world, Art of Shock was forged through years of loud stages, debauchery, chaos, and survival.” – that’s how they self-describe in the band’s bio.
The song they sent us is called “You Are The Plague” and it hits the groove, thrash and extreme sides of the band while it still keeps the huge melodic vocals and dynamics they’re known for.
Personally, “You Are The Plague” gave me some really mixed, yet familiar vibes.
Its initial vibe made me first think of an A7X song in terms of how energetic it feels and a bit vocally. After re-listening to the latter, I realized that Art of Shock’s song isn’t quite something I could definitely put my finger on despite feeling very familiar and yet very diverse.
Art’s vocals have a very classical heavy/thrash metal feeling to them at first but they gradually transform to something much more brutal and fit for destruction. Instrumentally, the song starts with a bouncy groove and then suddenly shifts to an already well-known stormy death-thrash formula that very well fits a proper circle pit. All this is followed by a more breathable passage which leaves room for the vocals and then a bit later, a breakdown-ish bridge with angry gallops. And that’s only the first minute!
Overall, the song has a good, unconventional and yet catchy architecture with a breakdown in the middle and some more juicy parts to come.
Lyrically, speaking….
You Are The Plague’s message is delivered straightforward with little to no room for misinterpretation. The song seems to be centered around the general theme of darker human attributes, such as greed, arrogance and impatience/lack of patience to name a few.
Art of Shock – You Are The Plague
Infernal chaos sweeps the world
Isn’t this what makes you human?
Wasn’t this the goal?
Sickening cravings in your soul
Entitled to retribution
looking for a quick solution
Insane
You Are The Plague!
Interpretation
The song starts with a general and ironic statement about human nature and further details it in terms of greed, entitlement and hasty superficiality. The first part thus ends with an early conclusion that will become recurring theme in the song about how such traits essentially represent a disease that plagues the immune system that’s human morality itself.
Never could tell right from wrong
Alienated, underrated
keep the mindless spawns sedated
Inflated confidence gone rogue
Infested swine without a mission
Forever in remission
Insane
You Are The Plague!
Interpretation
The lyrics continue with a clearer image of the presented situation and introduce the relationship between morality and (self-)awareness along others, as more focused topics. With the self-awareness gone due to arrogance, lack of purpose or other similar factors that cloud it, the “infested” ones are seen as individuals that consistently relapse on bad habits.
Upside down, the scum is rising
Dreaming of a piece of cake
Let them sink in confusion
to avoid a revolution
Confidence underperforming
Banished from the house of God
No one believes it’s a delusion
Make it an institution
Interpretation
The song delves deeper – this time into the mechanics of the phenomenon itself: division and weaponized misinformation to keep some people from coming together and others docile. Thus, arrogant convictions and anti-scientific thinking let political control thrive disguised as religious faith and amass more.
Infernal chaos sweeps the world
Isn’t this what makes you human?
Wasn’t this the goal?
Sickening cravings in your soul
Entitled to retribution
looking for a quick solution
Insane
You Are The Plague!
The song ends as it started with a now clear conclusion about the ill nature of a numbed down society that was desensitized and dragged backward by its ill-willed rulers.
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