Reviews

From the opening notes of 'Cross' Scour blasts from the speakers in a wall of noise. It is unrepentant black chaos, but in a perfectly American style. Phil Anselmo's vocals are brutal and pinpoint effective, switching from death-like growls and grunts to black metal scowls and screeches with perfect timing. Track 1 only lasts just over 2 minutes, but leaves the listener exhausted none the less - but if there is any doubt of what is ahead, you weren't paying attention. 'Blades' is slightly slower, and a bit more death metal, but is pummelling just the same. 'Infusorium' slows things down even more, but is still as heavy as hell, and the razor sharp guitar tones and demonic vocals embrace the listener in a hellish landscape. There are strange moments of clarity here, like the interludes 'Ornaments' and 'Contaminated', but they feel like they are here more to allow the listener a chance to breath than to showcase any music. The songs are short and tight and all under 4 minutes, and track after track the hated filled assault blows away the listener. It is hard to nail down the particular style with the songs alternating between death and black metal randomly, and often. With tracks like 'Evil', 'Devil' And 'Hell' there is no questioning the intent. The title track manages to actually get a bit of a groove into the chaos, but for the most part the track blisters like all the others. There really isn't much variation here, so by the final track 'Serve', which is a stand-out, a lot of the album has passed by in a blur. By design, isn't meant to dazzle with its musicianship and there are scarce few guitar solos, so don't come here looking for a feel good album - this is about sheer brute force and the power and energy it evokes when listening to it. It is like a mosh pit for your ears and soul, and when the just under 40 minute album ends you'll have the mental bruises to show your dedication. Then you'll press play again.

Ahh 1991 - a year that blew the minds of many metal and rock fans alike. I won't go into any detail though as we will be here forever (the black album anyone?). Anyway to this point, my daily music was completely devouring as much Thrash Metal I could. It wasn't until I moved to the big smoke that I had access to radio stations (yes you young shites, not streaming services) that opened your eye up to what was out there in the world of metal. To be honest Pungent Stench and this album were one of the first. Listening to their tracks aired on a metal radio show in the early 90's just blew me away. If you weren't sure by the band name what they might be about, the first track, not only rips at your ears, but also provides a frenetic pace of complete nihilism for anyone that wants to get in their way. The drums by Alex Wank (yes, his real name), the buzzsaw guitar work and the guttural vocals of Martin just hook you in. They also know how to change the tempo so it's not just a complete wall of riffing to try and absorb. Death & Roll I think they call it, but who the hell cares about that. Other notable tracks are track 3, which has some doom type elements to it. Very muck soaked in some slow paced guitar with drums over the top providing the pitch in your ears. The outro to this track is just brilliant. Finally for me track 8 (note, I'm not listing track names here for a reason) I recall as the first song of theirs that I heard and have loved it to this day. To summarise, it really is a perfect mix of aggression controlled by those songs which again slow the tempo down, scattered perfectly throughout the record. I'm so glad TheBigBlack and I got to see them live in our local town with not a large audience so was up very close to the band in a small venue pretty much making the walls swell and the floor beneath giving any termites hanging around absolutely no chance.