Review: Mary Todd, Bone Stock

Mary Todd- Bone Stock
​Rating: 8/10
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              Mary Todd is a mathy grindcore trio hailing from New York that consists of Ashley Levine on guitars and vocals, Chris Day on bass and vocals, and Fernando Morales on drums. In my opinion, they are easily one of the most underrated bands to exist in the New York underground metal scene, if not the most underrated. I have managed to catch these guys on four different occasions, three times at the legendary original location for ABC No Rio. As a matter of fact, they were the very first band I saw there when they opened on an LP release show for So Hideous (who I very unfortunately missed that day), Meek is Murder, and East of the Wall. I also managed to catch them opening up for legendary mathcore act PsyOpus at that very venue, up-and-coming Baltimore thrashers Noisem at the Acheron, and then opening for Meek is Murder again at ABC No Rio. They were great every time I saw them, pumping out tons of energy throughout their set. The band has put out a demo and two EPs are now, releasing their first LP, Bone Stock, on April 20th. However, Ashley was kind enough to give me the opportunity to listen to the LP in advance, so here’s the exclusive Metal Lifestyle review.
    Here we have eight tracks, three of which are from previous Mary Todd recordings. All of these tracks have an insanely fresh sound that makes them Mary Todd, so it makes sense that the band would re-record “Andrew Johnson” and “Shoot to Kill.” Having followed this trio from the beginning, it’s very obvious that they have matured significantly. Ashley and Steve have both become really good vocalists who compliment each other very well. The entire group’s instrumental playing has only grown as well. Bone Stock’s opener “The Architect” is so groovy, and it gets me excited to hear the rest. This isn’t to say they don’t have their trademark grind songs, as this breaks right into the super hard-hitting “Widowed.” “The Opposite” is probably my personal favorite off this LP, and could even be my favorite Mary Todd song to date. It starts with an incredible groove before jumping into an insane mathcore passage, which then breaks into a very intense breakdown. As I mentioned, the re-recorded songs sound tighter than ever before. “Shoot to Kill” gets the best treatment of the three, receiving a heavier tone that makes it sound much angrier than the original. “TR6” has some of the most insane guitar work I have heard on a song this year, especially towards the end of the track. The LP closes off with “Lines,” which is as groovy as the introduction but a little more on the noisy side. And then…the LP ends.     
             That is my only problem. Many LPs in this genre are short, and it makes sense - this is music made to go through the ears as fast and abrasively as possible. However, I feel that Mary Todd can and should write a longer LP, especially when they have tracks such as “The Architect” and “Lines” featuring concepts they could’ve explored more thoroughly with a few more tracks. I feel like these 16 minutes or so aren’t enough time to truly justify what Mary Todd has to offer, but I guess this is also a positive thing, as it only makes me more excited to see what comes next from the trio.
              Overall, Mary Todd has made a stellar debut that anyone who digs grindcore like Nails and bits of PsyOpus mathcore should check out. This is truly the album their previous releases were leading up to, and it is nothing short of absolutely solid.     
           Bone Stock comes out April 20th, so check that shit out and become a chaboi or chagurl.
- Alex Brown