feet is murder: 10/01/2004

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

[ Aquarius Records ]: "Pig Destroyer's 2002 album 'Prowler in the Yard' was called by some the best grindcore album since Brutal Truth's '94 masterpiece 'Need to Control' and anyone who heard it knew that honor was not undeserved. Thus having some big gore-soaked rubber boots to fill for their follow-up, Pig Destroyer has still somehow managed to not only meet but surpass their own vaunted standards. I don't know if it's the blood-red album art, creating the same sinister synesthetic effect as Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss, but everything about Terrifyer is just grander, heavier, darker, more deadly. The production on this is positively devastating -- it's unimaginable that just three individuals, with NO bass guitar could make music this crushingly heavy, but anyone who's seen them live knows this is no mere studio trickery. Scott Hull, undisputed king of grindcore guitar has pushed his playing and song-writing abilities to new peaks of riffing alchemy -- it's busier, more complex, catchier, and yes, somehow EVEN FASTER, occasionally adopting tornado-like Discordance Axis-style cyclical riffs for maximum effect. It goes without saying that the drumming is simply inhuman, but it's the guitars that make Pig Destroyer such a standout band, especially in the realm of grind. Most bands these days have supersonic blast beats, but it's often a criticism of grind that the guitars are too simplistic and tune-less, and this presumption Pig Destroyer positively blows apart.
And then there's 'Natasha', the single 32-minute doom track that comprises disc 2 (oddly on an audio-only DVD, available in stereo or surround-sound). Rumored to have originally been intended for a two-part split with the similarly godlike Creation is Crucifixion which never materialized, 'Natasha' is possibly the single strangest and greatest effort yet from these psychopaths."