THEORIES - Vessel
May 29, 2019, 5 years ago
(Corpse Flower)
I always for some reason file this band next to Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire in my grind-gnarled brain, and it kinda makes sense in that both bands deliver a take on grind that ends in complete destruction, Theories (containing in their ranks ex-Skarp, another band hell-bent on destruction and worthy of spending some time with) here on their second full-length delivering exactly the kind of annihilation I was hoping for.
The band's debut, 2015's Regression (on Metal Blade) was great and under-appreciated; Vessel will hopefully get them some attention in the metal underground, songs like the frantic “Harvest” spreading out for a solid four minutes but never wasting a second on child's-play stuff like breathing, while “Undertow” delivers a steady sludge riff with complete control before dropping some unexpected and welcome melody. And on it goes, this album actually managing to have enough ebbs and flows to stay interesting, the creative sounds here sounding like a Relapse Records-heyday grind band, everything inventive and raging and forward-thinking, but delivered with a caveman club und pummel, the fake fade-out grind ending of “Hollow” an absolutely brilliant way to end off this super album.
