Metroschifter Always Endures

Carbonistas (Noise Pollution)

Metroschifter

By Hunter Embry

Last year, Scott Ritcher ran for Kentucky state senator and in 1998 he was a candidate for mayor of Louisville. This year Ritcher returns to the line of work for which he is best known – something the singer/guitarist started 15 years ago when he recorded the first The Metroschifter album in just seven days.

The post-hardcore band recently released Carbonistas, its first new material in more than eight years, and it's stimulating to say the least. The album opens with "Goodbye Narragansett," a Chevelle-esque heavy rock track that begins with a running bass line before a time-shifting beat introduces Richter's unrounded, high-pitched vocals and teeth gritting guitar.

Carbonistas continues in similar fashion with "All F**ked Up in Dixie," a raw, energetic collision of tone-ripping guitar, punching drums and pain-swollen vocals. Within the first two tracks its evident why Metroschifter has been able to sustain a following around the U.S. and Europe alike. Ritcher's vocals are able to adequately match the intensity of the music surrounding him. There's a believable pain within the music that hasn't lost its sincerity in the group's 18 years.

The uncompromising diversity throughout the rest of Carbonistas displays the group's ability to stand ground through time.

Find out more at carbonistas.com.