SUICIDAL TENDENCIES - ‘World Gone Mad’ (2016)

The mere mention of the names Suicidal Tendencies and Dave Lombardo next to each other ought to make you pumped up. The Iconic Slayer drummer has always displayed musical dexterity stretching well beyond maintaining insane tempos – and Suicidal Tendencies’ style, equally rooted in thrash metal, hardcore-punk and funk, seems like a suitable environment for him to let loose in. So it makes perfect sense for you to expect something special from the meeting of these two Californian metal institutions that takes place on ‘World Gone Mad.’

Special, however, is not the suitable word to describe the result. It is rather more of the same of what Suicidal Tendencies have been offering recordings-wise since their resurgence in the second half of the previous decade. Lombardo just happens to fit in really well, to the point his presence is not felt.

This doesn’t change the fact that Suicidal tendencies are a special band – special enough to not look like fools when they wear only their own merchandise, and special enough to get away with a song title like ‘Clap Like Ozzy’. This opening track sets the tone of the album with fast punk rhythms on top of which the funky bass and guitar leads erupt spontaneously all the time – something as signature for Suicidal as Mike Muir’s vocals. Not bad. But not great either. The song lacks a special musical moment – a breakdown like the end of ‘Trip at the Brain’, or anything really – to tie it up together and make it special.

Most of ‘World Gone Mad’ plays out in a similar fashion, leaving few memorable moments behind. Not that there aren’t any highlights.

‘Get Your Fight On!’ starts off with a gentle melody only to explode into galloping crossover verse and a catchy chorus which is a heavier version of the melody from the intro – such songs, developing from a semi-ballad into total insanity, have always been among Suicidal’s best ones. The title track rides a blues riff for four minutes to remain one of the album’s most memorable tracks for remaining mid-tempo. ‘One Finger Salute’ leaves Lombardo the space to really let loose, while ‘The New Degeneration’ come the closest to a Slayer-like moment with double bass.

…The remainder of ‘World Gone Mad,’ though, sinks into a fog of nothing really happening that fades out with closer ‘This World.’

There’s really an EP’s worth of material on this album. Inflating it to the length of an LP which dwells on the territory between okay and good – and may end up being Suicidal Tendencies’ last one – doesn’t do justice to the band’s legacy, nor to Lombardo’s. A release with six good tracks on it and a sticker that says “Lombardo plays on this one” on the cover might have worked better.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES – ‘World Gone Mad’ (2016)