Nautical themed thrashers Swashbuckle are gearing up to release their fourth full length release right now, so as a teaser and a way to get new members into their crew, they released this four track EP which clocks in at under seven minutes! At first, you’d think “This should be nice and easy to listen to and review” but believe me, sometimes less means more!
Opening up with “Beer Goggles”, the longest track on the EP, it’s clear that these guys are all about making an impression. The straight to the point delivery with everything coming in, in just under a second lets the EP hit the ground running. The intense pace and frantic feel with the heavily aggressive thrash edge works like a treat. The growled and screamed lyrics, pounding drumming and precise riffing make it sound like Municipal Waste but on steroids! “I Hate the Sea (And Everything In It!)” follows up next with a very punk like intro – a howl of feedback and a steady building drum gives way to a supercharged cross-over style song. The growls are harsher, slipping into rasps at some points and the guitars are faster in the verses. The song gets its punk-like edge back in parts and gang vocal shouts of ‘I Hate the Sea!’ ring out over the end before a nicely delivered ‘Fuck You!’ rounds the track off.
“Poopdeck Toilet Wreck” is the penultimate track and its brief guitar heavy intro gives way to a more trash-like sound but with more drama to it with almost black-metal like fast guitar sections. With a title like this, you’d expect some tongue in cheek humour and there may be plenty of it, but as the lyrics are growled out, you can’t help but be drawn to the music rather than the vocals. With a good-old fashioned thrash-stomp feel to it, the song powers on and comes to an end rather quickly like the rest of the EP. Closing the 4 track is “Slaughter Upon International Waters”. A huge drum roll build up with a few squeals of feedback leads into another full on franticly paced thrash assault. There is a great Scott Ian styled section halfway through the song which has a brilliant groove to it and the breakdown feel section after it works well, but it’s over far too quick.
Swashbuckle certainly don’t pull any punches with this EP. It’s a blistering slice of thrash metal and a good indication of things to come. The only drawback for me, and it’s a big one is the length of it. If you let your mind wander, before you know it, the EP is over and you’re left with nothing but silence. It’s worth a listen, but be prepared to listen to it multiple times to truly appreciate it.
(6/10 Fraggle)
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