Songs of Separation

108's Songs of Separation is the most heavy metal entry into the world of Krishna hardcore music led by Shelter. But whereas Shelter is as pop as hardcore gets, musically 108 follows Ray Cappo's pre-Shelter band, Youth of Today. Hardcore aggression meets fat death metal riffs, thumping backbeats, chugga-chugga breaks, and raw vocals that would do the straitedge fans of Minor Threat and Eyehategod's hedonist followers proud. But that's where the similarities to death metal stop. Instead of singing about drugs, violence, and evil, 108 "lives and advocates a Krishna conscious lifestyle," with frequent attacks on the "9 to 5 scam" ("Pale" and "Son of Nanda"). "I've had too much of chasing dreams/that were built on emptiness...so I say to everyone I meet/worship the Son of Nanda sweet/and become fearless." This album is one of the best of its genre, though the theme of "each moment without you I die/Oh, Krishna" ("Solitary") can tire a listener who is not a follower. But 108 transcends the service of their beliefs when Kate-O-Eight's dreamy vocals are juxtaposed against Rob's harsh screams. The death metal and hardcore worlds of over-represented masculinity could both take a lesson from this.