Originally written by Jason Jordan.
At this point in my life, I tend to identify with the imagery that this band’s moniker constructs. In other words, children just piss me off. Thus, I was elated when I had the opportunity to review Circle of Dead Children’s most recent effort. Suffice it to say: their name alone was enough to hook me. But Zero Comfort Margin is simply a fantastic grind record, and there’s no two ways about it.
It goes without saying that, seeing as how Zero Comfort Margin is a grindcore album, the songs are all brief, and the full-length only lives for about twenty minutes. It’s common knowledge that I can’t help but harp on substandard length, though I honestly can’t bring myself to do it here. On a different note, enjoyable are the quasi-political soundclips that Circle of Dead Children pasted onto the end of “Zero Comfort Margin” and “Born on a Bombshell.” The aforementioned should garner a chuckle or three. And, as the subgenre requires, the musicianship is frenetic-yet-organized, which is totally impressive. Bartek (drums) does a commendable job on the recording, while Horvath’s multidimensional vox are seemingly one of the group’s strongest attributes.
Unfortunately, the listener is only left with fifteen tracks of material after all is said and done. Still, lengthier excursions such as “Playdumb” – which reigns for a monstrous three minutes – and “For Black Eyes Only” – which runs for a staggering four minutes (almost) – will have you disregarding everything but the music itself. Said, closing numbers are by far the juggernauts of Zero Comfort Margin; however, the quality hardly ever retracts anyway.
So, I’m pleased to announce that the prodigal sons have ceremoniously returned to Willowtip Records, and their logo is as unreadable as ever. Circle of Dead Children, despite toiling in this subgenre for only seven years, are one of the premier acts in grindcore today. And, in addition, Zero Comfort Margin is the type of album I’d purchase even if I had a downloaded copy sitting at home. Furthermore, I’d love to see these guys tour with fellow grind-masters Rotten Sound.
