3 out of 5

Label: Nuclear Blast

Produced by: Taylor Young

There’s maybe a small mental exercise here regarding that this was Nails’ final release before a couple of key members left, leaving them without much presence in the years since. The two tracks on display (plus a remix) aren’t bad or wholly different or anything – they’re just okay. But truly okay: not ‘for a Nails track’ or some other qualifier; the band kind of starts to sound like other hardcore / grind bands, even if getting a final mix polish from Kurt Ballou, who certainly had a hand in extra-terrifying their sound on their previous full release.

A-side title track I Don’t Want To Know You has some nice touches, with some of the lyrics getting absolutely gargled in the fury of the singing, and a years’ worth of playing jammed into the thirty seconds before its breakdown, but again – there’s some extra element missing here: you’ve heard a heavy band like this before. The slowed down pace of Endless Resistance, and the addition of a guest vocalist (Max Cavalera) further this trend: a solid hardcore track, tightly and energetically performed, but not an especially new assault upon the ears.

The B-side’s Endless Resistance remix is maybe a bit more interesting, even if it starts out as some pretty awful Dillinger Escape Plan-esque electro drums plus yelling mash-up. However, noise maker Petbrick starts to really tear things up as it goes along, upping the Atari Teenage Riot animosity and pummeling the track into new heights, letting it rest, then pummeling it again. Did I need this remix? Probably noy, but I enjoyed it more than I would’ve figured.