Unbelievable to think that we'd have to rely on a heavy metal stalwart to produce a decent alternative metal opus during a time when Satan and his minions had fled the nest after being driven out by the grunge kids. GZR is the child of Sabbath's Geezer Butler who somehow has carved out a record of urban toughness that would leave me salivating. Forget Biohazard, Korn, Machine Head et al, GZR were very much nu-metal before nu-metal - a mighty slab of streetwise metal that combined the weight and gnarly attitude of Faith No More with elements of grunge and to some extent, rap/metal crossover. Hell, even fans of early Fear Factory would find much to savour here (more so due to the fact that it's Burton C. Bell barking throughout) as Geezer and his bunch of metallic brothers pound the senses with an almost industrialised brand of metal. This is heavy stuff, the debut opus from a band who clearly know their stuff without buckling to trend. Butler wrote most of the lyrics here, and is accompanied by drum god Dean Castronovo who also worked with Ozzy, whilst the grinding guitars are the product of Peter Howse, a fellow Brummie and nephew of Geezer.
So, what can we expect from this record - well, it is very heavy, very direct and tends to hint at Fear Factory and the likes with its crisp approach and concrete weight. In fact GZR fit perfectly within the mid '90s fold, nodding towards Pantera in their muscular flexing as well as taking on a bold Gothic dynamic with those epic structures. Sadly 'Plastic Planet' is the only full length release to feature Burton who would be replaced by Clark Brown. 'Plastic Planet' is a bruising affair that after a few spins does tend to grate simply due to its unrelenting aggression. However, there are some nice subtle touches throughout, but for the most part this is the sort of stuff that took over from 'heavy metal' in the '90s so it should appeal to most. Favourite track being the monolithic yet haunting 'Séance Fiction' with its Sabbath-esque chugging.
7/10
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