ALBUM REVIEW: Love Is A Lie, Filth Is Eternal – Filth Is Eternal

Contrary to what a few keyboard warriors may tell you, evolution in music is key. It’s in this spirit that FILTH IS ETERNAL emerge from the cocoon of FUCKED AND BOUND. Changing your name as a reasonably established band is no easy decision, but it definitely pays off here. While the Seattle-based four-piece still deal primarily in raging hardcore punk, the new moniker sees them clearly broadening their horizons. The results, presented on the semi-eponymous Love Is A Lie, Filth Is Eternal, make for an urgent 20 minutes of riotous energy and righteous anger.

With a slightly more accessible name, some might fear that FILTH IS ETERNAL have sought to temper their uncompromising savagery. There’s really no need to worry though, as the band prove with album opener On The Rake. It’s a fast and furious D-beat rager, leaving listeners in its dust with a runtime that barely tops 60 seconds. The band maintain this edge throughout the record, with all but two tracks clocking in at under two minutes. Eighth track Noisebleed is one of the most blistering of all, a 48-second blast of full-throttle ferocity. The same is true of much of The Dog which follows – another urgent burst of piss and vinegar.

As mentioned however, FILTH IS ETERNAL have their sights set on evolution, and there’s plenty of that here too. Perhaps most obvious is the way the band seem happier to slow things down than their previous iteration ever did. For example, tracks like Private Room and Deeper Void stomp along with a hefty and consistent sense of headbanging groove. Others, like The Ritual and The Dog, are faster at first, but drop down to their own shit-kicking breakdowns in due course. Moments like these give the record a little more to grab onto than listeners may have been used to with FUCKED AND BOUND, and are only accentuated by the hair-raising pace of the tracks that surround them.

A large part of what makes this record so compelling rests on the performance of vocalist Lisa Mungo. For much of the album, Mungo is antagonistically furious, her snarling delivery laced with hatred and bile. She does mix things up a bit though. On tracks like Wigsplitter and The Ritual, she’s more sarcastic and sardonic, lending the songs more of a slacker punk feel. Musically, the band do a good job of matching her fury throughout. Over the record’s 12 tracks, guitarist Brian McClelland fires out a steady stream of raging riffs and squealing leads – all of these caked in scuzzed-out distortion. Behind him, bassist Rah Davis and drummer Mat Chandler – both new recruits – are clearly more than comfortable at whatever pace the music requires of them.

With its short runtime, Love Is A Lie… can definitely fly past listeners on its first few listens. If any track bucks this trend though, it’s the album’s closer. Named after the band themselves, this one’s another stompy beast, and the longest track on the record by some way. It brings the album to a triumphant and fiery close, with some massive leads from McClelland and more throat-searing savagery from Mungo.

Rebirth can be a wonderful thing, and that’s definitely the case for FILTH IS ETERNAL. This album is punk in its truest form: no frills, no compromises, just a raw and raging intensity and energy. Granted, you won’t hear anything here that you probably haven’t heard before, but if you like your hardcore urgent and bristling with anger then Love Is A Lie… is well worth repeated listens.

Rating: 8/10

Love Is A Lie, Filth Is Eternal is set for release on August 27th via Church Road Records (UK & EU) and Quiet Panic (US).

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