RIFF REWIND (23/05/2013): The Body - "Master, We Perish"

 

The Body’s Chip King and Lee Buford can emote pain like no other band, and their ability to move between the often strict confines of the metal world and the electronic music sphere is perhaps best illustrated on their 2016 full length “No One Deserves Happiness”, an album that eludes categorization.

Buford and King are outlaws of the metal world, striving to create music without a category. They embody many contrasts but always deliver punishing music in volume and scale.  Back in 2013 in an ongoing pilgrimage towards the apocalypse and perpetual hatred for humankind, THE BODY unleashed their “Master, We Perish” EP which showcased the THE BODY’s nihilistic audio terror with three blackened bursts of noise-drenched, low-fi doom.

With mangled-human cover art by Manifester, “Master, We Perish” was released as a 12” EP, CDEP, cassette and digital download on April 30^th 2013 via At A Loss Recordings.  Today we rewind the riffs to 4 years ago to the day and reacquaint ourselves with “Master, We Perish”.  So if you missed it the first time, be sure to remedy you error by checking out our review in full below. 

By: Chris Markwell

Album Type: EP

Date Released:30/4/2013

Label: At A Loss Recordings

This is a musical Frankenstein at work: stitching together lifeless vocal snippets and attaching them to raw guitar and drum tissue.  What is created is nothing short of terrifying: it should not be, but here it is in front of you.  ‘Master, We Perish’ is a fuse leading to dynamite, and it gets lit every time you listen to it.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

“Master, We Perish” CD//DD//LP tracklisting:

1) The Ebb and Flow of Tides in a Sea Of Ash

2) The Blessed lay Down and Writhe in Agony

3) Worship

The Review:

Sometimes in this life we come across… anomalies.  Strange happenings we experience but cannot quite explain.  Portland, Oregon’s The Body is an example of such an occurrence: a two-piece metal act that sounds like an entire orchestra of angry, darkly creative musical alchemists.  Their latest offering is the EP ‘Master, We Perish’, and it’s three tracks of pure, churning hate.  Let’s let the autopsy begin. 

EP opener ‘The Ebb And Flow Of Tides In A Sea Of Ash’ begins with an air raid siren rolling up and letting loose, followed by a low, ripping guitar riff that feels like you’re being crushed with the sheer force of it.  It reminds me of Pulled Apart By Horses, with a generous tint of Hierophant mixed in.  As openers go, it’s a mighty beast, and Chip’s vocal cries are those of a madman, freshly escaped from the asylum. 

Track 2 opens in a much darker, low-key way: a guitar riff, doomy yet melancholy, mixes with some of Lee’s strange samples, creating a very unsettling, dark atmosphere to descend.  This is ‘The Blessed Lay Down And Writhe In Agony’, and it’s a really messed-up slice of doom.  This is a musical Frankenstein at work: stitching together lifeless vocal snippets and attaching them to raw guitar and drum tissue.  What is created is nothing short of terrifying: it should not be, but here it is in front of you: ‘IT’S ALIVE!  IT’S ALIVE!’ 

Lee’s very fine drumming work begins proceedings on final track ‘Worship’ and, clocking in at 9:39, it’s a real odyssey of a song, one that takes you down blind alleys and through streets with boarded-up houses and smashed windows.  The drums are unstoppable on this track and, frankly, the entire musical experience found here is nothing short of suffocating until it bursts open at around 6 minutes in and becomes this grinding, doom steamroller.  ‘Master, We Perish’ is a fuse leading to dynamite, and it gets lit every time you listen to it.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

 Band info: Facebook



ALBUM REVIEW: Meshuggah - "The Violent Sleep of Reason"

By: Chris Markwell

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 07/10/2016
Label: Nuclear Blast

Trying to describe Meshuggah’s sound is a challenge.  The only way I can put it is that they’re a musical cascade: a never-ending barrage of sound and heaviness pounding down upon you.  Don’t expect or ballad or moments of levity here, this is a relentless tide which you will not escape from.  Tracks like ‘MonstoCity’ and ‘Our Rage Won’t Die’ are pummelling tracks of new material which can easily be slotted in to their live setlist and not seem out of place.  In fact, the same could be said for any of those songs on display here: like a chain forged by Vulcan, there’s not a weak link present.  It all hits, and hits hard.

“The Violent Sleep of Reason” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Clockworks (7:15)

2. Born In Dissonance (4:34)

3. MonstroCity (6:13)

4. By The Ton (6:04)

5. Violent Sleep Of Reason (6:51)

6. Ivory Tower (4:59)

7. Stifled (6:31)

8. Nostrum (5:15)

9. Our Rage Won't Die (4:41)

10. Into Decay (6:32)

The Review:

In all honesty, there is one band that should spring into the mind of every metalhead when the word ‘djent’ is uttered.  In fact, if you believe there is a hierarchy among prog and djent bands, then Sweden’s Meshuggah is king: hell, the term itself was coined from the sound made by these guys.  Irrespective of whether you like or loathe the term, you can’t help but marvel at the uniqueness at which these people decided to create music.  Innovative, gifted, heavy, these guys make heavy music like ordinary people make toast.  Seriously, it’s almost annoying how easy they make it all look.  2012 saw the release of Meshuggah’smost commercially successful album to date (“Koloss” and, seriously, get yourself a copy if you haven’t already); October 7^th, 2016 sees their return to your speakers with “The Violent Sleep of Reason”.  Best warn those things in advance, because it is going to get heavy. 

Trying to describe Meshuggah’s sound is a challenge.  The only way I can put it is that they’re a musical cascade: a never-ending barrage of sound and heaviness pounding down upon you.  Don’t expect or ballad or moments of levity here, this is a relentless tide which you will not escape from.  Fans of earlier releases like “obZen” and “Nothing” will find themselves comforted by the fact that Meshuggah’score groove has not been changed, which gives a good foundation in the familiar, but is then built on with track after track of great and vibrant new music, building something you can truly marvel at. 

Considering 2017 will be the 30^thanniversary of Meshuggah’sinception, their sound feels more contemporary than classic.  Their rabid desire to explore and create means each album seems to advance upon the previous album, rather than rigidly stick to ‘safe’ boundaries and go no further.  Tracks like ‘MonstoCity’ and ‘Our Rage Won’t Die’ are pummelling tracks of new material which can easily be slotted in to their live set list and not seem out of place.  In fact, the same could be said for any of those songs on display here: like a chain forged by Vulcan (the Roman God of metalworking, not the Star Trek dudes), there’s not a weak link present.  It all hits, and hits hard. 

Meshuggah released ‘Nostrum’as a preview for listeners and, personally speaking, it was a great bit of bait to put onto the hook.  Once you took a bite of that dissonant, eerie, polyrhythmic slab of raw sound, that was it.  Reel you in, gut you, cook you, eat you.  Meshuggah had me on a plate.  “The Violent Sleep of Reason” is made by a band that is the same age as me, yet shows no sign of strain or weakness.  Their sound has never been a more vital alternative to the mainstream than now, and this latest offering will no doubt be hailed as one of the pivotal albums of 2016.  Wake up and get yourself a copy as soon as you can. 

“The Violent Sleep of Reason” is available here

Band info: official|| facebook

FFO: Gojira, Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad, Xerath