ALBUM REVIEW: Head Cage – Pig Destroyer
If you’re familiar with PIG DESTROYER, then you’ll likely be aware of the reputation they have within the heavy music scene. Renown as purveyors of some of the finest grindcore about, the group became legend when they dropped records like Prowler In the Yard and the later Book Burner that cemented them as vicious as they were intelligent. Often using grindcore as their vessel, PIG DESTROYER have never been afraid to bring in outside ingredients into their putrid stew, with varying success that always retained their definitive tone and aggression. After a lengthy break of six years, these rowdy, swine hating gentlemen have returned with Head Cage, an album equivalent to a baseball wrapped in razor wire being pelted at your forehead.
Things start with relative civility, as the band offer a warning that they’re not to be held responsible for any hearing impairment moving forward. It all gets pretty dark, pretty quickly from here on out though, as siren feedback rings out like a banshee before the deep, thick toned guitars begin the assault. PIG DESTROYER make it their goal to balance the pallet as much as possible, as when they’re going at full pelt there is still refinement. Opener Dark Train displays this fantastically as it provides ample motifs and passages for the listener to latch onto as opposed to the often disorientating over saturation the worst kind of grindcore usually has.
It’s after this quick introduction that the more divisive elements of PIG DESTROYER are given time to shine. Army of Cops didn’t receive the warmest of welcomes, and whilst it isn’t the best example, its verse grooves and smooth transitions do show the band to be aware of their abilities to wield song structure to pretty consistent effect. It’s on the following Circle River that the band truly go for it, with a chorus that some might even call catchy buried deep beneath the bile. The riffs are frantic and aggressive, trademarks of prolific member Scott Hull, and the vocals of JR Hayes are venomous.
The pace is relentless all throughout Head Cage with one track ending, the thunderous opening of another begins, and with the added peppering of razor sharp, shorter numbers it makes the album incredibly dynamic. The brutality of Terminal Itch bleeds into the groovy Concrete Beast without losing any momentum, simply utilising it in a different way. It does detract from the constant and unrelenting abuse that garnered PIG DESTROYER their early praise, but for what is lost the band pick up the slack by writing actual songs that are far more effective in delivering the knockout blow than just a tidal wave of blast beats and shrill notes would ever do.
Things come to an explosive finale by the time the seven minute House of Snakes closes its doors, making it clear that PIG DESTROYER haven’t lost any of their grit or ability, nor their experimental edge. Refining what they had already achieved and distilling it into 11 songs with varying degrees of depraved noise, the band still retain enough structure and direction to never feel lost in the chaos. This just highlights how good PIG DESTROYER have become at their craft, and whilst the songs don’t jerk and writhe as much as the classic grindcore sound does, having a more carefully constructed sound does not make them any more accessible. There is something here for all extreme metal fans, whether that be chunky grooves or skin-tearing blast beats, PIG DESTROYER have it on lock down and probably do it better than whoever else you were going to listen to anyway.
Rating: 8/10
Head Cage is set for release on September 7th via Relapse Records.
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