3 out of 5

Label: Decibel Flexi Series

Produced by: Taylor Young

Good and great. Nails stand out from their thrash / grind contemporaries by sounding that much more vicious than the rest, which is quite a claim amongst that crowd. But they get even further mileage by packing an awful ton of riffage and metal-age into their 1-minute bursts – the first few Nails tracks I heard blew me away by how dense their songs could be, and that proved to not be an anomaly. There are “other” songs on their albums and releases, though, which could be said to be kinda “just” what they are, and that’s sort of where Among the Arches of Intolerance lands on this. There’s no real breakdowns, and nothing much to it beyond playing heavy and fast. Taylor Young’s recording again helps to bring out the drums more over the pounding drop-tuned guitar and guttural vocals, and it’s undeniably heavy as ever, but I might not be able to pick it out as Nails at first.

Followup track In Pain hits hard, though, with a solid post-hardcore breakdown in its back half that helps underscore the intensity and gives the track some more dimension. It’s not the most showy of Nails songs – it’s got a get-in / get-out vibe to it – but it stuffs in more telling elements I’d associate with the group, and makes this twofer a worthwhile addition to their small catalogue.