TORTURED CONSCIENCE: One Law One King
CA’s death/speed/grind merchants Tortured Conscience first came to fame when their version of “The Little Drummer Boy” appeared on Sound of the Dead Records’ excellent A Brutal Christmas: The Season in Chaos in 2002. The trio followed with their debut album Every Knee Shall Bow in 2006 on Bombworks Records. Considered a grindcore masterpiece, it would be Tortured Conscience’s sole output.
Fast forward a decade or so. Vocalist Berto Salas and drummer John Gotelli are gone, but guitarist/bassist Jeff Lenormand would rebuild the band from the ground up, eventually recruiting Vision of God Records owner Duane Keith on vocals and 20 year old Dutchman Rene Gerbrandy on drums, and finally releasing One Law One King just after Christmas 2023.
Any questions about whether the new album would meet snuff are quickly put to bed upon spinning the disc. From the opening bugle call, infectious guitar and drums, and Duane Keith’s impossibly long and low growl (which made my dog start to howl!) on “An Open Letter,” there was no doubt that Tortured Conscience is most definitely back. One thing that plagues many extreme metal bands is playing so fast that each song sounds the same, leading to listener fatigue. Jeff Lenormand is great at crafting songs that are speedy, but with melody and memorable axework. A good example is the riff in the chorus of “Who Is the Blessed Man.” Overwhelmed your ears will at first be at this chainsaw operation, but suddenly you find yourself amazed at all the intricacies you find within. Same with the multiple riff changes on “Necessary Preconditions.” The chorus on “You Can’t Be Serious” is actually funny when you pick it out of the death metal screams. Album cover and liner notes display some gnarly artwork of lions and wolves fighting, and the lion emerging victorious.
Lyrics are meaty and worth a deep dive all on their own. “An Open Letter” is a rebuttal to Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Moloch Reborn” a rejection of abortion. The title track is a brooding upon the Law:
“Oh how I love your law. Meditate upon it I do. Day and night I contemplate. Your precepts objectively true. Your law brings me to the Christ. For the life that is His to give. Christ points me to the law. To show me how I should live.”
Likewise, “Before He Spits Back” speaks of the dangers of stirring the Lord’s wrath:
“Kiss the son, lest He be angry and. You perish in the way. For His wrath is quickly kindled. “
before concluding that “You can only spit in God’s face for so long. Before He spits back.”
Tortured Conscience is back, and certainly not for the faint at heart. There are two speeds here- fast and faster, and the listener is in for an aural beatdown between Jeff’s savage riffs, Duane’s guttural screams, and Rene’s blastbeats. The band retains a uniqueness and originality on their return that make them stand out above the grindcore horde. Great stuff. (3.75 out of 5 stars) – Vision of God Records
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