The Pitch: Michigan blackened grinders wreak havoc on your senses with an album that Trevor Strnad (The Black Dahlia Murder) calls "nihilistic, miserable music" that is "confrontational as fuck." FFO Vermin Womb, Nails, Young And In The Way
What I Like: Heavy, heavy, heavy. By far one of the heaviest things you are likely to hear this year; especially the first few songs. The band goes straight for the belly, slicing out your entrails before you have a chance to so much as wave hello. It will eviscerate you with its razor-wire riffing, d-beats, and blasts. It's also got the best of several worlds with the dark, blackened atmosphere (especially on the slow builds), grinding speed, and of course the highly abrasive vocals. The more progressive tracks remind me a bit of Converge's expansive builds on albums like Jane Doe.
What I Don't Like: The album is so heavy that the near hour length can be wearisome at times. Some of the tracks that run over 5 minutes can drag, though they have grown on me over time. A little trimming and a better distribution of the grindy-to-moody ratio would go a long way.
The Verdict: Those brutal winter storms across the country, including the one right here in Portland...they came in anticipation of this album. It is a destructive force of nature. However, I have a similar view of this that I did with the last Black Breath album: the high points are super high, but you can have too much of a good thing. Buy it Friday, but stream it early HERE.
Flight's Fav's: Praise The Venom Shield, Begrudging Soul, Cursed Diminished Years