Implants – From Chaos to Order

What do you get when you combine members of classic melodic punk outfits Strung Out, Pulley, and Ten Foot Pole?  Punk rock super group Implants.  Now sign them to NOFX guitarist El Heff’s Cyber Tracks label and you have a collaboration born from some of the most fondly celebrated punk rock talent of the 90’s.  Their debut full length, From Chaos To Order, features twelve songs and forty-two minutes of politically charged melodic hardcore not only serving as a self-tribute to a fondly referenced legacy, but also featuring a slightly modernized approach that should entice long time fans.

Make no mistake about it, Implants takes its chief inspiration from the EpiFat camp and runs with it.  Unless you’ve combed through your CD archives recently you might have forgotten just how fast drummers from 20 years ago could fly.  Opener “Life Passes” takes it easy compared with some of the speedy rattlers still to come.   “Through The Window” and “Mutualism” layer on a classic contrast of flowing melodic vocals sung against a backdrop doubling as drummer Chris Dalley’s sweaty workout routine.  Vocalist Ken Conte sings with a razor’s cutting edge analogous to guitarist Rob Ramos’ heavy hitting Strung Outallegiance.  For that matter, most songs feature Ramos’ trademark metal-solos, which serve as the heart-pumping climax for which most songs work towards.

And when Implants aren’t shredding with the best of them, they’re bolstering larger than life choruses in punk rock anthems.  Songs like “These Walls” amp up vocal harmonies like a Bad Religion tune, while those like “Unveiling” settle on a full-bodied Pennywise vehemence.  Lyrics are politically forceful but fleetingly in memory; a likely less intended effect of their lightening delivery.  “El Ron’s” content stands out mainly because of the Scientology focus, but the Tom Cruise and John Travolta references have somewhat of a been there done that feel.  Otherwise it’s business as usual.

 Overall, Implants offer fans of melodic punk rock exactly what they’d expect from members of bands that have all been signed to either Fat Wreck or Epitaph.  True, some songs are less lyrically impactful than others, but more often than not, From Chaos To Order delivers amped up punk rock tunes they way you remember them.