Pokerface-Divide and Conquer (2015)

Pokerface-Divide and Conquer (2015)

“Due to the policy of Vladimir Putin, a country with unparalleled potential is sinking, an economy which accumulated untold currency reserves is collapsing.”

Boris Nemtsov

By: Ghost Writer

Anyone expecting true power perhaps would be put off by the first seconds of Pokerface new Divide and Conquer album, but disgust is quickly put aside by the intensely brutal attack of All is Lie in which the band applies sheer fury in order to get their message into everyone's head just like a sledgehammer, a tremendous drum work and a fierce vocal work should left every listener numb after the first tune, half hurt just to get the horror groove of Kingdom of Hate, another incredible stunner which features again a devastating instrumental work with drums and bass taking the spotlight while the band showcases a diversity of vocal styles, is the band trying to reflect the harsh conditions growing in Russia´s society? Perhaps, Boris Nemtsov is dead, the opposition is rising again and Putin is sending troops to Syria to help his “club of dictators” pal Bashar al Assad.

May the great chess master Garry Kasparov be the inspiration for the guitar heavy riffing of The Chessboard Killing? After all Kasparov was once one of Putin´s biggest critics before things got really bad there, I guess we will never know, but anyway we can enjoy the great guitar work the band displays here mixing epic elegance, chopped riffs and pure abrasion in this tornado of musical might the band sets in motion, while punkish beats are put in amazing display in the turbulent Existence, an artifact of power conceived by the band at full speed leaving some space for engaging guitar pyrotechnics, as the band applies here really diabolic speed and frenzied techniques in order to raise the level of adrenaline produced by such monstrous intensity, echoing a bit the brutal thrashing of Sepultura classic early records.

If something becomes clear to me, is that these Russians are awesome musicians with powerful guitar playing so intensely thrown at our face like in the dissonant and abrasive intro to the brutal charging I Into the Inferno, where the band really sounds like channeling today's Russia fury into pure musical evil as the intense bass drum work increases the tension and creates a rock hard bottom for the band ritualistic epic discharge.

While Human Control is a truly scary title reflecting the current state of “putinism” going on in Russia, Killed by Me is a tight as hell offering by the band playing in an astonishing precise fashion just before the beastie vocals set loose, hard hitters and defiant musicians, Pokerface sounds really relevant and making a perfect pairing of their first rate musicianship and a courageous depiction of their surrounding reality in mighty Russia, if one needs further exploration, we should be giving more attention not only to Russian music, but to great contemporary Russian literature, like the Day of the Oprichnik by the great writer Vladimir Sorokin, both Pokerface record and Vladimir´s book are a perfect match to start fueling Russian current opposition growth.

Just listening to the guitars at the beginning of the title track might give you the equivalent of an acoustic orgasm as the band again sets in motion those chainsaw guitars and hallucinating leads that take on really devastating attitude just at the end if the tune, recreating that early blood frenzy that permeated the mighty Exodus early recordings in the Bay Area.

Divide and Rule is a dangerous record, musically and lyrically the band is true to their current surroundings in a country where living is starting to become asphyxiating, where lies ate told by the government in order to manipulate opinions, media is an instrument of “brainwashing”, plutocracy is ruling mercilessly and hate is permeating society, whether it’s becoming an inferno or not, is for the Russian to decide.

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