DEAD IN THE MANGER - Cessation
April 1, 2015, 9 years ago
(20 Buck Spin)
So, according to the bio (which reminds me: I need to stop reading bios immediately), Dead In The Manger are a "mysterious entity," although I suspect they are a band like many others; here, this band lays down some serious stuff on this 26-minute grinder of an album. It starts off all thoughtful and chin-stroking and hitting-on-girls-with-blue-hair-at-the-coffee-shop but then the band actually wakes up and blasts that "post" prefix right outta my fingers with a whole bunch of blasting and grinding, the tunes arriving at a very desirable midpoint between grind, death, and raw big-city extremity.
The guy hitting on the girl with blue hair likes "Part III"'s massive Isis worship, and so do I (and you thought I was that guy!): the sound itself is a bit worn out, but placed in the midst of a bunch of wild grind tunes, it's a great way to build some dynamics into the blasting craziness, which starts up again in the next song, "Part IV", which offers up all kinds of weirdo sideways grind riffing, making me think this is something Relapse should have their eyes on, although the very quality 20 Buck Spin is a just fine, and very suitable, home for this interesting band for now. The excellent closing sludgegaze (you're welcome, go to Hell) of "Part VI" seals the deal: this is one interesting, and one heavy band.
