EP REVIEW: Corpus II – Show Me The Body
At the heart of what SHOW ME THE BODY have created with Corpus II, is community and collaboration. Recruiting the help of others keeps the blood of Corpus II pumping and on this, and the prior, the heart rate is high. To temper any expectations that you might have, the best approach is to know that you aren’t getting a SHOW ME THE BODY record — this is much more.
This is coalescence. An amalgamation of not just hardcore class acts like HIGH VIS and Ian Shelton [MILITARIE GUN, REGIONAL JUSTICE CENTRE], but their own industrial tendencies alongside, hip-hop indulgent verses from the likes of BLACKIE. Two sides of thriving collaboration see’s SHOW ME THE BODY. They hit the ground running with It Burns, a spacey rhythmic opener before the right hook that is Nation Of Mind with ZULU. Fast and unrelenting they join forces to up the ante and waste no time in doing so. Anaiah Muhammad makes sure to deliver a throat tearing performance, giving some jaw clenching bite to the bark.
The beauty that Corpus II exhibits due to the collaborative nature of the project is in its ever changing form, no two tracks sound the same, that formlessness keeps you on your toes breathing in fresh air with the start of each new track. B L A C K I E features on Creep and Ghost In The Room. The prior is like a barrel rolling down a hill, getting faster and wilder before reaching maximum velocity, the latter slowly builds tension with an accompanying sense of unease that exudes from breathy vocals and a strung out riff that is television interference personified.
SPELLLING’s ghostly vocals shroud Magnum in an eeriness that demonstrates the quality of atmospheric changes throughout Corpus II. Her vocal range keeps with the theme of the shapelessness that the record has overall, if there’s anything to be said about how it has been crafted is that this combined effort is dynamic yet cohesive. It’s most apparent during Stomach where the signature styles that SHOW ME THE BODY and HIGH VIS both have, synthesising their industrial and Brit-pop with hardcore at their respective centres making for an anthem with a hefty dose of revelations.
Even though this isn’t a solo record for SHOW ME THE BODY, there’s moments where they steal the spotlight; It Burns and Shelter would be well at home on their sophomore record Dog Whistle. Corpus II exists to be a furnace that gives so many within its chamber a fighting chance and keeping their passion burning hotter than ever.
Rating: 8/10
Corpus II is out now via self-release.
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