As with the falling of the leaves, days that seem to last for mere moments before being eaten by the watery night god of doom that is Autumn and another inept and spineless wrong step from the incumbent UK government, another side project materialises from one Phillip Anselmo. Although, I’m not sure on reflection, whether or not his myriad of musical escapades actually now qualifies as side projects, seeing as his main job fronting the much missed Pantera is no more? Down seem to have stalled in their tracks as they continue to deal with their frontman’s much covered racial confusion, whilst other projects (such as the recently reviewed on these unholy virtual pages, El Minor) come and go like a parasitic worm looking for their next anus.
Putting abhorrent politics aside, (which I do not do lightly I might add), I sing…“What’s that coming over the hill, it’s a monster…it’s a monster!!” (sorry for the unnecessary and obscure reference to 90’s Indie band The Audience)……it’s Scour’s new EP. Scour (that’s a great name by the way) and this their third release following fast on heels of their previous EPs (2016’s Grey and 2017’s Red) which were both brutal exercises in what is, stylistically at least, Black Metal in feel. Scour’s oeuvre, seeps around the edges like a gangrenous wound, into other darker territories and represent tasty vignettes of bastard strength black metal flavoured shots.
The band comprise the aforementioned Phil Anselmo alongside John Jarvis (Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed), Derek Engemann (Cattle Decapitation), Chase Fraser (Animosity, Decrepit Birth) and Adam Jarvis (Pig Destroyer, Misery Index) and can, of course, be categorised as a supergroup, I guess, comprising, as they do, the great and good of disgusting riffs and blackened entrails. Certainly, Scour garnered favourable reviews for their last two efforts and it must be said, despite it’s brevity (6 tracks and we’re done in under 25 minutes), Black, is a very, very decent effort indeed.
As mentioned, the Black Metal text book is followed to the letter, all frenzied double bass drums, (which are relentless throughout), underpinning much of the good work here with lighting fast blast beats that anchor the avalanche of guitars that create towering waves of dense, macabre distortion. So far so good, but crucially, as with all projects involving Anselmo, it’s a lottery as to what type of vocals you going to get. It’s a lottery if recent releases are taken into account. Will it be the drug infused, alcohol soaked, cracked, phlegm popping Anselmo of his latter years or something else? Well mercifully, it’s something else. Phil seems to have embraced sobriety and you can hear that in his vocals here, that veer from the BM staple of high pitched, scratchy, reedy shrieks, to a low, menacing growl that underpins the 100MPH mayhem but non more so than when the band slow the tempo down on album stand out ‘Flames’ that plays silly buggers with the tempo but is more enjoyable for it. It breaks up the slight monotony of the galloping riffage that goes before it, adding colour, depth and variance to keep the listener engaged and enthused. Further deviating from their BM roots with ‘Microbes’ which comes replete with a non-more spooky, dainty piano riff, augmented with strings that further emphasis that Scour are far from the one trick pony that many would expect given their previous recorded output.
I would go as far to say, that this EP, is a short, sharp, shock, a veritable kick to the head, that is aggressive, dark, heavy, brutal and well crafted. Anselmo, seems to have his act together in terms of the song writing and vocals, and given the talent on display in regard to highfalutin nomenclature that make up the band, it’s only right, I would imagine, that you should expect great things from them. Having listened to their back catalogue, you can hear the development and progress nee journey of the band, as they segue slightly from their Black Metal origins and start to explore other strands of extreme metal that encompasses elements of Doom, Thrash and Grind at times, that are welcome accoutrements to a feted meal of sheep’s intestines with a side order of sliced veins. In summary, this is probably one of the best things Anselmo has put his name to in years being, as it is, a brutal, and ferocious exercise in postmodern Black Metal.
(8.5/10 Nick Griffiths)
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