No/MĂĄs â No Peace Review
By Grin Reaper
DC deathgrind ensemble No/MĂĄs formed almost a decade ago, pumping out a split, two EPs, and a full-length between 2017 and 2022. Four years later, No/MĂĄs assails 2026 from the jump, touring with Exhumed and Oxygen Destroyer as well as crackinâ skulls with their sophomore effort, No Peace. Stylistically similar to their debut Consume/Deny/Repent, No Peace offers listeners twenty-two minutes of throat-punching, toe-stomping aural hooliganism thatâs as charming as it is confrontational. Does No/MĂĄsâ boisterous, acerbic approach leave listeners with a tolerance for their hijinks, or will they leave No Peace thinking, âno thanks?â
While No Peace manifests many upgrades from their (admittedly good) debut, the biggest win might be that No/MĂĄs firmly institutes their identity. The change isnât drastic, and No Peace is a natural progression from Consume/Deny/Repent, but the sophisticated onslaught supplied on this sophomore sweep oozes with sneering confidence. Following in the footsteps of Nails, No/MĂĄs balances grindcore, death metal, and hardcore/crust tendencies with playful intelligence, weaving together Full of Hellâs caustic bite, Napalm Deathâs thuggish simplicity, and Jungle Rotâs warped melodicism into a densely packed third of an hour. And if those touchstones arenât enough, No/MĂĄs unleashes Sepultura-informed grooves and a slow leak of Pro-Pain into their secret sauce. Not to fret, though, because despite all the influences, No Peace presents as a unified vision, and one that will rouse languid listeners into a frothing fancy.
ï»żNo Peace by NO/MĂS
No/MĂĄsâ instrumentation on No Peace sets a high bar with energetic performances, snapping necks with whiplash-inducing riffs and a license to thrill. Joe Vastaâs bass bounces and chugs with in-your-face rumbles throughout No Peace (âAbolition,â âCycle of Sacrificeâ), wielding a thick, surly tone thatâll rabbit punch you into head-banging if youâre standing still. Drummer Henry Everitt wallops the skins hard enough to rattle your ear bones, battering with furious fills (âAbolitionâ) and dropping to half-time backbeats (âNo Peaceâ) as songs demand. Itâs not all about the beatdowns, though, as No/MĂĄs injects a welcome helping of melody into No Peace. John Letzkusâ guitar slices through the faff to drench the album in a satisfyingly saturated buzz (âAct of Killing,â âSpinelessâ), though he also takes the reins and dazzles with efficient, arpeggiated leads (âLeechâ) that I wish appeared more. Vocalist Roger Rivadeneira rounds out the quartet, shouting, growling, and screeching in a varied attack that demonstrates a willingness to experiment that was largely absent from Consume/Deny/Repent. In total, No/MĂĄs fires on all cylinders throughout No Peace, and never gives you a moment to come up for air.
With only twenty-two minutes on tap, No/MĂĄs leaves no room for inessential slop. And besides the half-minute intro flush with wall-of-sound static and indistinct yelling, they wildly succeed. As youâd expect from any decent grindy endeavor, no song pushes past its distilled essence, staying just long enough to rip and bludgeon before getting the fuck out of the way for the next track to exact its toll. No song eclipses the three-minute mark, and each exudes a rabid savagery that seethes with conviction. Additionally, No Peace sounds greatâsure, the dynamic range scores low, but itâs exactly how this brand of overstimulating ass-kicking should sound. Itâs well-mixed, abrasive, and highlights the rhythm section without sacrificing the sparse six-string fortitude. I wish there were a few more songs like âLeech,â partly because No/MĂĄs excels with the tunefulness, but also because I think it would address the biggest opportunity with No Peaceâthe compact composition allows little room for songs to establish unique flavors, leaving them to sometimes blur together. In the end, though, this is only a minor quibble, and there are many great moments to appreciate.
No/MĂĄs hasnât redefined the DNA of deathgrind with No Peace, but they have contributed a worthy addition to its annals. Corrosive, pummeling bangers streamlined with minimal frills sum up to a blistering platter Iâve quite enjoyed. While I havenât had the pleasure of seeing No/MĂĄs live, this crew boasts the hallmarks of a band that whips a crowd into a frenzy and ends with a broken bone or missing tooth. With twelve tracks running so lean, No Peace is helplessly easy to spin again and again. If they keep pumping out tunes this good, I canât wait for what comes next. No mĂĄs? No. MĂĄs.
Rating: Very Good!
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Redefining Darkness Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 13th, 2026
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