After reviewing the last offering from Danish grinders Piss Vortex I said I wouldn’t be playing it again in a hurry as it fair did my head in. With a new EP landing in my inbox I did go back to it for the first time since it came out at the tail end of 2014 and got battered silly all over again. This was necessary to see how the band had developed in the meantime and to help me attempt to get to grips with them once more. The band have been scaring audiences on the road since the album but no doubt went down well playing with groups such as Brutal Truth, Today Is The Day and Mutoid Man and their comeback 12” is described as ‘more fucked up than ever.’
What we get here are 6 acerbic slabs of noisy discontent running at around the 12 minute mark so essentially its half the length of the album and therefore should be half as gruelling a listening experience. ‘Default Face/Filtered Rot’ starts things off with some low tuned bass heavy industrial heft sounding like a particularly nasty Godfleshian nightmare before barrelling in with a punchy fury of clattering drums, seething guitars and distempered vocal roars. It’s designed to take your head off and is speedy and equally weighty. Juddering stops and starts are brutally slammed down and it’s got that sickening lurch to it that makes the acidic contents of your stomach want to fly up to your gullet and choke you. Powerful flurries and belched out vocals grind into submission on Den Moderne Mands Lænke and it’s a tumultuous stew that shows no mercy devouring all in its path before the 30 second Bug Chaser, swarms in and attacks without a pause. Tempo changes are all over the shop but it seems slightly more controlled than previously. The tracks are just as noisy as previous material and unhinged with it but seem somewhat more structured with groove laden passages snarling away but easier to get along with. Vocal contortions constantly shift with some absolutely ferocious screams and yells taking over on Failing the Voight-Kampff Test and if you want to know exactly what that is brush up on your Blade Runner knowledge. ‘Abyss’ is a suitably precipice dropper with some beat down punishment and massive drum crunches and the band go for an epic finale for them with last number Patterns Of Repetition a screaming mad dash of lunacy which actually sees them slowing into some apocalyptic and atmospheric doom-mongering before the final burst.
I certainly enjoyed this more than the album, perhaps the short sharp shock of it helped more. File under queasy listening, not easy listening.
(6.5/10 Pete Woods)
Leave a Reply