What, then, to make of Matt Widener's Liberteer, whose Relapse debut might best be described as epic grind? There's space cleared for groove. Non-metal instruments emerge more than occasionally with melodies as fat and brazen as a _Lord of the Rings_ theme (I'm pretty sure Mr. Howard Shore gets quoted directly during the first half of the record). And, to be sure, this thing is grind as fuck.

_Better to Die on Your Feet Than Live on Your Knees_ lives up to its catchy and blatant title, early and often. After dispensing with an indispensable horn-and-banjo introduction, _Die On Your Feet_ is 27 relentless minutes of righteous rage. Song titles echo the expected sentiments: "Build No System", "Class War Never Meant More Than It Does Now", "Sweat for Blood" and "Feast of Industry" cry anarchy and incite the kind of stickinit-to-the-manliness that all extreme music junkies thirst for from time to time. But instead of hammering on all the tired political hot spots with music as uncompromising as its ethics, _Die On Your Feet_ constantly amazes with its excellent musical reach. We've all heard records whose sound got tired after far less than a half-hour; Widener has crafted a consonant cacophony that leaves this listener eager for more. Simultaneously militaristic and organic, brash and welcoming, _Die on Your Feet_ is surely one of 2012's happiest surprises and likely one of the best albums we'll see this year.