EP REVIEW: Scalps – Casket Feeder

The best thing that’s ever happened for hardcore is its fusing with death metal. Period. The straightforward, no-frills aggression in death metal lends itself perfectly to the dynamism in hardcore. It’s a new sound that’s captured the minds and bodies of so many young bands with stand-out releases from NAILS, VENOM PRISON, JESUS PIECE, WOLF KING, JUDICIARY, BLACK BREATH and SUBURBAN SCUM all consummating the marriage of the two genres. Now with Scalps, CASKET FEEDER‘s second EP, this new sound has found one of its finer flavours.

Right from opener The Supremacy Of Idiocracy to Replicant, Scalps is a gripping listen and a prime example of how to bring together elements of the two genres particularly with the dynamics in the instrumentation and the raw power of Matt Downes‘ shrieked vocals. Their strength obviously lies in their ability to pull equally from both of those worlds, going from a stomping death-driven riff to a groove-led breakdown. It’s not a technically perfect listen but perfection be damned when you can rip out hardcore flavoured ENTOMBED. They sometimes expand beyond that, flirting with what almost becomes droning black metal track on Carve Their Names Upon The Hanging Tree before they really get their thrash on and kick up the speed on closer Replicant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScKpy-1Euas

Nevertheless, Scalps is not CASKET FEEDER‘s finest moment. The best is definitely yet to come with this band. It’s a strong offering to follow on from 2017’s Venomous Tongues, though easily the most exciting thing about this EP is the potential. The sound they’ve created is one that has a very ironically bright future, particularly in the climate of heavy music nowadays. Where Scalps lacks is where it doesn’t diversify enough and so, becomes relatively monotone. And that’s all well and good, some bands are content to do a particular thing and do it damn well. CASKET FEEDER currently have that, but with a tad more attention to extending the musical scope, they could have a world-beater in them. It’s just a case of their realising it now.

Rating: 7/10

Scalps is out now on Hibernacula Records.

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