I have to get this out of the way. Plough is an awful name for a band. Unless you are a Metal Wurzels tribute act. It conjures up memories of harvest festival at junior school which I have had therapy to dissipate! Don’t make me plough the fields and scatter!
These chaps from the Netherlands play “bunkermetal” so named as they rehearse in a WW2 bunker. This obviously stops them bothering the neighbours with their cacophony and means they could practice the 4 songs contained on this EP without fear of next door banging their clogs on the wall in disgust ( That stereotype is for free – any more will cost ya) .
What Plough offer is a mix of hardcore, death and thrash, head down pedal to the metal more suited to a Land Rover defender careening across farm land than a furrow digging implement.
Opening track “Now I breathe Hate” is the epic track here at 4:33 and opening with an acoustic passage I was expecting some KSE genre metal. What followed was heavier – more Pissing Razors mixed with Gothenburg sound than yankee metal core. ‘Unsew’ my eyes hits the ground running but doesn’t really do it for me . The drums seem to lack oomph – more to do with the mix than the drummer and it goes a little Machine Head for me. I think I am a little old in the tooth to appreciate this particular cut. The fact that I have called it a “cut” goes to show that fact.
‘Grinding of the Trust’ however is a different matter. Starting with a syncopated verse that brings to mind a demented System of a Down with a spiralling riff behind it I was smitten from the off. Even the beat downs didn’t put me off. This track shows the potential of these Dutch lads. I have already played it on the MattCave and got some great feedback.
The final track of this quartet “Emily Rose” is a chunky affair which rounds the EP off well and gets the head nodding. It is its predecessor that is getting the most rotation on my high tech whizz bang music player .
This band seem to have the chops to pique the interest of anyone looking for great riffs and heaviosity. It would be interesting to see how they would develop over an album.
(7/10 Matt Mason)
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