Blast(beat) from the Past: The Parallax View

The Parallax View
Destruction of Property
Resident Art Media
2001
It takes a hell of a lot more than a few choice samples to recommend an album, but fuck if Michigan metallions The Parallax View didn’t uncork a few doozies on 2001’s Destruction of Property. But they do lift some quality audio from Dragnet, 12 Monkeys and Back to the Future as well as a purely classic Rick Moranis line from Space Balls.
Not to be confused with an annoying Christian indie rock band, this grind quintet, as far as I can tell, dropped on solitary album of Discordance Axis meets Misery Index goodness in 2001 and then promptly fell off the face of the earth. They haven’t logged on to their MySpace page in over two years so I’ll just assume they’re defunct. Hell, even their label’s website has pretty much evaporated.
Which is kind of a shame because with some time to metastasize their sound and some quality studio backing to invest in decent recording, The Parallax View could have held their own with the Misery Indexes of the world. And that’s the only real hang up with Destruction of Property: it sounds like ass. It sounds like a low grade demo even by 2001 standards, devouring most of the music and texture in a muffled wall of flattened sound.
But amid the scrap metal rattle of the band, the vocals sound like Circle of Dead Children’s Jon Hovarth (minus some of the pig squeal inflections) gnawing through drywall.
While The Parallax View were happiest playing full tilt (such as decimating Minor Threat’s “Filler”), they did mix up a few chocolate chunks in their grindcore brownie. Unfortunately, you’ve got to fight through the production to enjoy the dynamics of a song like “Corroded Database of Incarcerated Thought,” which stretches a sinuous lead guitar around low gear Bolt Thrower trudge and even tosses out a few pinch harmonics.
All of the parts were in place to deliver a solid and inspiring grind workout, but The Parallax View never seemed to have the chance to really grow into their sound. Despite – or because of —its flaws, Destruction of Property makes for an interesting listen if you see it lurking in your local cut out bin.