Pig Destroyer – Book Burner (Relapse)

Pig Destroyer formed in 1997 and ever since have been bringing us their unique brand of grindcore. The band has no bass player which at times leaves them sounding exposed but it is a minor quibble. This is the 5^th full length release although they have put out numerous split 7”s with the likes of Benumb, Coldworker and Isis. If this is your first encounter with Pig Destroyer hold on to your hat as this is no holds barred mix of grindcore, discordant hardcore with healthy doses of death metal. On offer here are 19 songs with an average length of 1.5 minutes. What makes Pig Destroyer different is they mix it up and don’t travel along too long on the one style. The drums are very prominent with the kicks so high that they strangle the life out of the guitar when they get into the slow crunching grooves. Tracks to watch out for are “Machiavellian” which dishes out just over a minute of relentless grind with some offbeat slow sections, the speed at which this band changes riffs will make your head spin. The title track has a whiff of early Dillinger Escape Plan about it, though not as chaotic and certainly more definition between the instruments. Vocally it isn’t as brutal as the title may suggest, don’t get me wrong there are no three part harmonies but there are certainly coherent sounds being made. This is more refined grind which will crossover to an extent to a wider audience, it is not on the level with the bands like Wormrot or Narcosis. For a grindcore based album the production is excellent, drums sound a bit over produced; guitars are sharp for the most part but I still think a bass added in would really pin this whole thing down and lift it from a great album to an unstoppable album.

7/10

Members

J.R. Hayes – Vocals

Scott Hull – Guitar

Blake Harrison – Electronics

Adam Jarvis – Drums

Track Listing

Sis

The American’s Head

The Underground Man

Eve

The Diplomat

All Seeing Eye

Valley Of Geysers

Book Burner

Machiavellian

Baltimore Strangler

White Lady

The Bug

Iron Drunk

Burning Palm

Dirty Knife

Totaled

Kamikaze Heart

King of Clubs

Permanent Funeral

www.pigdestroyer.bandcamp.com/

www.relapse.com/label/artist/pig-destroyer.html