EP REVIEW: Patiently Waiting for Wonderful Things – Corrupt Moral Altar

CORRUPT MORAL ALTAR are perhaps one of the best acts within the UK’s vibrant underground extreme metal scene. Coupling frenzied and energetic grindcore with dense and weighty sludge, the band has a great sound that not only encompasses two very different forms of music, but also gives them their own niche and intensity that most of their contemporaries are rarely able to match.

Although the band’s two full lengths, 2014’s Mechanical Tides and 2017’s Eunoia, have gone a long way to cementing the CORRUPT MORAL ALTAR‘s reputation as one of the premier grind acts in the country, their EP’s manage to capture some of their more impressive moments as well. Take their latest release, Patiently Waiting for Wonderful Things; a record that sees CORRUPT MORAL ALTAR at their most visceral and, arguably, their best.

This EP starts with Cathedral of Porn, with its chunky, groove-laden guitar hooks and acerbic, caustic vocals that quickly gives way to a chaotic aural assault, blending great, punk inspired rhythms with visceral, frenetic grindcore elements, making for a noxious brew of influences that works really well. You Smell Expensive has some monstrous, chugging guitars, discordant flourishes and a tar thick bassline that gives this whole song a weighty undercurrent that adds a sharp contrast to the jarring, demented approach of the vocals and guitars. Much like the last track, it strikes a great balance between the slow, doomy side of the band’s sound and the more energetic, grating one. Maximum Bastardry really allows the punk influences to come to the fore, with lively guitars peppered with catchy melodies and a much more diverse range of vocals, with the song gradually shifting into a denser and more cacophonous tempo as it reaches its climax.

Spirit Breaker, by contrast with the last three songs, adopts a cleaner guitar sound and musicianship that is far more restrained, at least initially. It abruptly launches into one of the more speed-driven and aggressive tracks on the whole album, with the whirlwind of dissonant riffing, bellicose howls and intricate drumming crafting an impenetrable wall of noise, punctuated by savage death metal moments and an ethereal, atmospheric passage with a few more sublime, almost jazzy moments within the songs second half. I Am An Ocean of Wisdom blends the band’s more unhinged grindcore with beefy gutturals, disjointed guitar work and great thunderous drums, making for a monolithic and rabid to the record.

There’s a lot to like about Patiently Waiting For Wonderful Things, regardless of whether you are well versed in CORRUPT MORAL ALTAR and their sound or just discovering them. The musical shift between the chaotic grind sections and the far chunkier, groove-laden sludge flourishes, which feature far more prominently here than they did on Eunoia, works really well here, with a few subtle, but effective, alterations in the established formula, most noticeably on Spirit Breaker, adding even more depth to the sound. Each of the songs are incredibly punchy and memorable, and doesn’t drag on any longer than absolutely necessary, managing to lay down as many great ideas as possible in a relatively short space of time. Patiently Waiting For Wonderful Things is definitely up their with some of the band’s best records, which, when compared with their already brilliant back catalogue, speaks volumes.

Rating: 8/10

Patiently Waiting For Wonderful Things is out now via APF Records.

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