EP REVIEW: Killing Of A Sacred Deer – Killing Of A Sacred Deer

As is the case these days, if enough hardcore bands spend enough time with each other chances are they’ll birth an unholy fusion of their music via members’ tastes aligning. We’ve seen it with bands like SIMULKARA and HOLY BLADE this year, but now the bar has been raised massively.

Sporting one of the hardest band names in a hot minute, KILLING OF A SACRED DEER is a project containing members of SERRATION, WORLD OF PLEASURE, MORTALITY RATE and SECRET AND WHISPER (which is technically correct as Colter is in three of those bands, the busy bee) and they’ve made a record that quite frankly, needs to be heard to be believed. The musical equivalent of the tapes they make FBI agents listen to so they become desensitized to crime scenes, this self-titled EP is a blend of spine-curdling vocals and a snare that can only be described as the sound of a wrench battering a skull.

The only real comparison these days is PSYCHO FRAME. If you’re a fan of the unhinged, head-spinning deathcore that they’ve nailed on their two releases, then you’ll be right at home here. It matches the band on a lyrical level too, taking inspiration from horror movies and video games. The annunciation is actually pretty good and you can actually understand about 70 percent of them without having to consult the lyrics book. A fantastic example of this is on 25.4mm From Death, a track which features Frazer Cassling of CAULDRON vomiting the lines “From Birmingham with a sickfuck mind / Know minging cunts get crucified“. It ain’t Shakespeare, but it’s absolutely brain-dentingly brilliant. Colter himself is a great vocalist, but it’s good that he knows a whole record of his voice, while entertaining, would possibly get a old fast and have less sticking power than what we ended up with. The aforementioned feature from CAULDRON and the one from WORLD OF PLEASURE‘s Jess Nyx on Devotion are the highlights of the short piece.

Not a lot has been said about this in the run up to its release which seems for the best. Let it be a fantastic surprise that terrifies and makes you look over your shoulder on a dark night as much as it makes you want to kung-fu kick your way through a crowded bus stop filled with nuns. Sheer violent, disgusting music that will flail and scream its way into your end of year lists.

Rating: 9/10

Killing Of A Sacred Deer is out now via Wax Vessel.