Clusterfux Blood cassette

I previously received a cassette collection by CLUSTERFUX which compiled the band’s 7”s and tons of unreleased songs—I remember at the time feeling like it was a bit lackluster and somewhat all over the place. If I were a more pompous individual, I might suggest that my review pointing out the gripes I had with the previous cassette inspired CLUSTERFUX to focus on the genre they really wanted to be playing on Blood, their newest release. This cassette couldn’t be more different from how the earlier tape came across. We’re talking straightforward, no-bullshit, crossover/thrash metal. A short and sweet six-song cassette, which I think works well for a band of this genre, rather than the overwhelming nature of a collection cassette. Hell, even listening to a record like Crossover by D.R.I. feels like a bit of a marathon if you ask me—by the end of it, I’m always left wondering why they didn’t cut the album off with the stomper “No Religion.” Anyway, you get none of that with this cassette. If you’re into later-era crossover D.R.I. albums, CLUSTERFUX now sounds like a mixture of that and any ’80s classic thrash-metal band who were not memorable enough to make it into any iteration of the Big Four.

• Reviewer Biff Bifaro
• Label Chain Reaction
• Issue MRR #474 • November 2022