Elements of death and thrash metal with intelligent song structures.

8 MP3 Songs
METAL/PUNK: Death Metal, METAL/PUNK: Thrash/Speed Metal

Show all album songs: The Process of Indoctrination Songs


Details:
Combining equal parts calculated aggression, harmony-laden structures and unique song writing, Gross Misconduct has forged an undeniable mark on the metal landscape with the release of the bandâs first independent album, The Process of Indoctrination.

Influenced by many of metalâs sub-genres but aligned with none, the band combines classic, melodic song structures with the brutal aggression of todayâs death, thrash and grind scenes to create a unique hybrid of unparalleled modern metal.

Consisting of David London (vocals, guitars), Jesse Brint (guitars/backing vocals), John Kurucz (drums) and Ryan Shepard (bass), the band has managed to create a sound that fans and critics alike have compared to Death, Morbid Angel, the Crown, and Dimension Zero.

Since setting up shop in Vancouver, Canada in 2003, the band has shared the stage with renowned international acts including Martyr, Neuraxis, Augury, Unexpect, Infernal Majesty, Thine Eyes Bleed and Anonymous.

Directly after releasing their debut effort, the group embarked on a successful abbreviated west coast tour with Canadian heavyweights Martyr and Neuraxis in late May 2007.

With their first full length attracting considerable attention from metal fans and media alike, the band has undeniably proven that it can hold its own with todayâs established metal acts.

With more than half of a follow-up album already written as of June 2007, Gross Misconduct is now looking for support from labels and distributors to help the band continue its path of momentum on a world-wide scale.


Album/Live reviews:


The members of Gross Misconduct are veterans of two now-defunct Nanaimo-based skate/punk-metal bands, but they've moved far beyond aping Suicidal Tendencies. This is a proficient, technical, death-metal quartet whose Vancouver-based music has more in common with '80s Metallica, late-period Death, and contemporary underground acts like Nevermore and Martyr.On The Process of Indoctrination, drummer John Kurucz physicalizes the rage of his anticonformist lyrics at around 200 beats per minute on riff-driven tracks like "The War Breeds On" and "The Humbler". The choice cut here is "Driven Fanatic", where a monstrously menacing introductory lick presages the dinosaur bludgeoning that comes midway through. David London's thick-throated vocals are satisfyingly intelligible, and, along with fellow axeman Jesse Brint, he delivers distorted volleys of rage and pinch harmonics. Next time out, an even fatter four-string sound from bassist-engineer Ryan Shepard would be appreciated. Otherwise, given a little refinement, Gross Misconduct could conceivably play junior-hockey arenas someday with its savagely complex sonic attack.

---- The Georgia Straight. August 16, 2007

Today's music scene, local and otherwise, is overrun by bands that could literally be mistaken for one another. It is no less frequent that one will go to a show and see three or four separate bands giving the same performance with a more than similar sound. Just when the search for something new seemed hopeless, enter Gross Misconduct. This group of Nanaimo natives came into the scene over ten years ago, and have just started to make some major waves in the local scene. Influenced by such acts as Slayer, Sepultura, Pantara and Death, their sound is new and refreshing, yet still hints at their metal roots. They are sure to shut up all the jabbering twits at the bar with their commanding entrance. At Warped Tour '07, they began their set with maybe 30 people in front of them, but by the end had pulled in at least double that. Kids clad in metal shirts came running from every direction, streaming down the hill beside the stage, pushing everything that was in their way to get to the band. The first row of head-bangers were thrashing so marvelously in-sync with the incessant blast-beats that they were literally rocking the barricade in front of the stage back and forth so hard, it early snapped free from its platform. Such a response from a crowd that has not heard of the band they are egging on is almost unheard of. One thing is for sure, Gross Misconduct are just getting started. They recently completed their first full-length album, The Process of Indoctrination. It's heavy hitting, grabbing you from the very beginning of the first track and not releasing you until the very last moment. Since they hadn't done much recording before, it was a huge learning experience. The result is a solid album that they'll be proud of throughout their career. In their years together, the band has gone through several line-up changes, a move from their home town to the city and countless shows in bars that a lot of people wouldn't set foot in. All the boys need now is a good tour to kick everyone into gear. You can check Gross Misconduct out at www.myspace.com/grossmisconductmetal, or at the Cobalt on September 8. Be sure to pick up a copy of their album, you won't regret it.

----- Discorder Magazine, September 2007.

Three years of the Nerve has seriously eroded my metal fortitude with impurities like 'country & western', 'musical exploration', 'Adrian Mack', and 'the '70s'. So it's been a while since checking in with Gross Misconduct. What started as an ode to Death (the band) with all the angular, temposmashing, disjointed mayhem that was Chuck Schuldiner's specialty, Gross Misconduct has smoothed slightly, adding a teaspoon more melody and chug-a-chug grooviness to the technical metronome perfection and aural terror. Musicianship is uniformly tremendous, with brain-swelling, death-thrash riffs, John Kurucz's outrageous 10-tempos-a-second drum acrobatics, and constructively epic deedle-deedle-woAAAAH guitar solos. Can't say much for the lyrics â typical pessimistic male anger and societal ills â but who really cares? It's as metal as it gets, from the title, to the artwork, to the tough-guy band photo and a song called "Abaddon". For a lil' band from Vancouver, Gross Misconduct absolutely holds its own against biggies like the Crown, Nightrage, Dimension Zero, and Kataklysm. So fuck yeh, put on your thrashin' horns.

---- The Nerve Magazine, June 2007.

Coming out of Vancouver comes the musically inclined Gross Misconduct. I saw these guys open up for Martyr/Neuraxis back in May of this year, and needless to say it was a great introduction to this band. Their live show was impressive, but now that I have the disc, I can easily say how solid this band is coupled with the initial reaction of their live performance. Gross Misconduct plays a style of death metal that is full of good thrash riffs, and intelligently modeled phrasing. Oddly enough, the first Martyr album is fairly comparable to this album, in a sense that it's not as wacky as some technical bands out there today. Even more ironic that the melodies in this band sound very Neruaxis-esque. It's certainly a winning combination. One will notice right away that the musicianship in this band is incredibly tight. Each member plays with precision and accuracy. For most of the album, we get a good thrashy riff that the band will play with. The riff will open up in a way that sounds almost predictable, but then twists to something more obscure, whether it be a strange shift in melody or just some overall crushing metal goodness. This band certainly keeps the listener on edge doing so. As each riff develops, the band will play off of it with overlaying melodies and variations, then fall into a counterpoint. Blast beats will pummel the listener, or alternatively, spaced out breaks take place. Either way, the band does it in an intelligent matter that doesn't get boring. One thing that makes this album stand out quite well is the vocal approach. It's not typical death metal vocals⦠it's a much more raspy kind of yell, which works very well with their style. Perhaps comparable to Meshuggah crossed with Martyr in that department. The only part of this album that can get a bit tedious is a few of the melodic riffs do get to be a bit boring. However, the amount of good riffage and structures counters this greatly. Of course, this is the band's first offering and I feel that the potential displayed here is going to explode. For a debut album, this is some really awesome stuff. Support this band especially if you're into this style of music. Aside from playing well and writing good material, they have been quite friendly towards myself and other individuals, which is certainly more than reason enough to check them out.

---- metal-archives.com contributor, "Orphy" -- September 2007

The Process Of Indoctrination' is quite a fine debut album. This band's style of melodic yet aggressive death/thrash draws influences from sources as varied as Kreator, Cephalic Carnage, Vader, and a myriad of other artists. The package is cohesive yet varied, and possesses a great deal of technicality as well as a very solid grasp of songwriting. Already the band is extremely professional, with top-notch production and playing present on this CD, and the delivery of the music as a whole is very compelling and strong throughout. Riffing alternates between more complex, somewhat melodic lead work and straightforward, buzzsaw thrash riffing, and that alternation is used very effectively, with unexpected turns between complexity and simplicity entering at perfect intervals and short, frantic solos bursting out from nowhere. Stop/start rhythms intersect with longer streams of notes, adding yet another layer of complexity to the music, though they are never employed in a metalcore or Meshuggah-esque fashion. The drumming is similarly complex and fill-laden, with a powerful style of playing and a good level of speed and technicality adding yet more to the music. Vocals, though somewhat buried by the guitar-heavy production, are quality, if probably the most standard of the elements here: they're a shouting growl that does the job well, but doesn't really stand out, nor should it. Though the band does get quite melodic at times, most obviously on 'Abhorrence', they never get cloying, even though many of the melodies employed are Gothenburg-based in nature. The lengthier nature of the tracks on this LP give the music a bit more room to progress and breathe. Each track moves through a sequential set of ideas without ever dawdling around or doing nothing. At the same time, the band never feels the need to get everything out of the way too quickly; while the idea of death/thrash metal does imply a sort of barreling aggression and absolute dedication to all things straightforward and linear, Gross Misconduct is a great deal more thoughtful and musically complex than you would expect at first glance. The album is very multidimensional and none of the songs are overly simple; it is a release that can be listened to time and time again, with each new listen revealing yet more elements of the music previously unnoticed. This is a very well-rounded LP, and all its flaws are mostly a matter of degree; it's not the best album ever made. It's merely very good. It doesn't shine your shoes or perform fellatio on you either, though the latter could be approximated using the hole in the center of the disc it comes on. But anyway, 'The Process Of Indoctrination is a very good debut from a very promising band, and I'm looking forward to yet more high quality music from them in the future.

---- metal-archives.com contributor "Noktorn," October 2007.

Another great newcomer from the technical metal scene in Canada. The band's style recalls late period Death and the Polish Sceptic, but is more aggressive and more thrashy, with frequent adherence to blast beats where shades of Suffocation could clearly be heard, and by no means less technical. Chuck Schuldiner (R.I.P.) is an obvious influence on the guitarists, so expect some great leads and mighty technical riffage; by far one of the finest debuts of 2007.

--- www.thethrashmetalguide.com


I am the first to admit that I am not a metal head, but I do know good, technically sound music when I hear it. Gross Misconduct just gets better and better over the years. The remind me of what I liked about metal back when I was in high school, and yet they manage to not be dated. Gross Misconduct hit hard, fast and with great skill. No screwing around.

---- Absolute Underground, Issue 16.

Located along one of Canada's most notorious stretches of pavement, the dilapidated dive that is the Balmoral Hotel bar transformed into the perfect heavy metal haven, for a couple hours at least. Vancouver's Gross Misconduct opened the show with their brand of death metal, best described as fundamentally influenced by the likes of Chuck Schuldiner with more focus on melody, Arsis tendencies in riff building, and the occasional Gorod shred. Though their moniker may suggest otherwise, pay close attention to GM; they could become the West coast's only beacon of noteworthy metal.

-- Exclaim! Live review from July 2007.