''Subliminal Criminals'' is the seventh studio album by the American
rap metal
Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock and alternative metal music which combines hip hop with heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, rapped vocals and sometimes turntables.
History Origins and early ...
band
Stray from the Path
Stray from the Path is an American hardcore punk band formed in 2001 in Long Island, New York. They have released ten full-length albums. Their first three records were independently released – ''People Over Profit'' in 2002, ''Audio Prozac'' ...
. The album was released on August 14, 2015, by
Sumerian Records
Sumerian Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and London. The label was founded in 2006 by Ash Avildsen.[UNFD
UNFD (pronounced as an initialism ˈjuːˈenˈefˈdiː/ is an independent record label based in Melbourne, Australia. The label is home to a number of Australian artists including Thornhill, Ocean Grove, Hellions and In Hearts Wake, and in ...]
in Australia and New Zealand.
Lyrical themes
The guitarist Tom Williams said that the track "Outbreak" is about "the health industry and how illness is a business. Every year there is a new disease to be afraid of, more money to be made off of cancer treatments, and more prescriptions written." Williams elaborated on the album's lyrical themes further in an interview with MusicFeeds.au, saying that the lyrics "are very sardonic and very sarcastic." According to Williams, "Badge & a Bullet Part II" is about "people making arguments in which they lie to themselves and try to convince themselves that deaths related to police brutality aren’t linked to race. “Don’t call it a race issue!” People need to understand that there is a huge breakdown between minorities and police." The song "D.I.E.P.I.G." attacks musicians who use their fame to abuse underage fans, including
Ian Watkins of
Lostprophets
Lostprophets (stylised as lostprophets) were a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997 by singer and lyricist Ian Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze. The band was founded after their former band Fleshbind broke up. They later recruited Mike ...
and the singer-songwriter
Front Porch Step, both of whom were directly referred to in the lyrics.
Track listing
Reception
In a review of the album, Brenton Harris of ''
Music Feeds
''Music Feeds'' is a free bi-weekly digital music and lifestyle magazine (street press) established in 2008 and based in Sydney, Australia. It is distributed electronically every second Tuesday, with additional material posted on the website r ...
'' wrote, "As with previous recent releases from the band ''Subliminal Criminals'' wears both its
hardcore
Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to:
Arts and media Film
* ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film
* ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott
* ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...
and
RATM influences on its sleeve, but on the whole the record doesn't sound like a retread of either sound, being too heavy to be branded a RATM knockoff and too varied to be dismissed as generic hardcore. ... Eight albums in, the revolution is upon us, and its impact will be far from subliminal."
The album was included at number 17 on ''Rock Sound''s top 50 releases of 2015 list.
[Bird, ed. 2016, p. 27]
Personnel
* Andrew Dijorio – vocals
* Tom Williams – guitars
* Anthony Altamura – bass guitar, vocals
* Dan Bourke – drums
Charts
References
Bibliography
*
2015 albums
Stray from the Path albums
Sumerian Records albums
UNFD albums
Albums produced by Will Putney
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