BARBELITH underground
 

Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.


Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb

 
 
Phex: Dorset Doom
12:18 / 12.06.07


Those of you who read and contributed to the Interesting Metal thread will have no doubt heard of Pig Destroyer. Those of you who like any music heavier than Belle and Sebastian will have no doubt heard of Pig Destroyer. Those of you who haven't heard of Pig Destroyer no doubt need to hear Pig Destroyer. Like, now. Here's their Myspace. So you can be their friends like.
Phantom Limb, released today, is the follow-up to Terrifyer, which is the follow up to Prowler in the Yard, which just might be one of the best metal albums ever written. Don't ask me to explain why: metal, like Jazz, is one of those things that will either click with you from the second you hear it or not at all. If you're listening to the tracks on Pig-Diddy's Myspace while you read this then you are probably feeling either intense embarassment or exhilaration. Now, I'm not one of those people who'll say that Art is sucessful if it makes you feel something, I want you to like Pig Destroyer as much as I do, but notice that your reaction to Pig Destroyer's music is intense. That's purity, that is. It's like uncut heroin: you'll either drop dead or have the best high of your life.
There is more everything in Pig Destroyer's music than any of their contemporaries. When they blend every form of heavy music they don't dilute a single one: the metal is heavier, the thrash is faster, the punk is harsher, the doom is deeper. The vocals side-step cookie-monsterism, the lyrics are amongst the most literate and mature in the genre, the riffs (Oh God the riffs!) are- and I feel I must state this slowly- as. Good. As. Slayer. There, I said it. That is, when they're playing metal riffs: the riff on The Machete Twins could easily be early Nirvana laid over a blast-beat.
It's a fabulous record from a band who have put out nothing but. Metal is, as I have said, a niche genre, even in its hipster art-school variety (there is no way in hell Pig Destroyer will be canonised alongside Sunn0))), Boris and Lightning Bolt). If you don't like metal then I can't imagine you'd like one of the best, maybe even the best, metal bands in the world now. Your loss hippy.
 
 
MacDara
17:54 / 12.06.07
I don't know if I agree that 'metal' is a niche as such; the reason why Pig Destroyer won't be feted in the same manner as Lightning Bolt et al is because they're essentially grindcore, and 'grindcore' is too much for the hipsters, man.
 
 
MacDara
17:55 / 12.06.07
Which is my way of saying that Pig Destroyer are really good, as is much of everything else made my Scott Hull (I'm an Agoraphobic Nosebleed fan, too).
 
 
T Blixius
01:23 / 20.06.07
you made me overcome my disgust of it enough to like it with your little rant there.
 
 
Phex: Dorset Doom
07:54 / 20.06.07
Glad to be of help.

Here's PopMatters' article on Pig Destroyer, concentrating on JR Hayes's lyrics, which, as I have mentioned, are amongst the best the genre has to offer.
 
 
Bandini
08:05 / 20.06.07
I'm also a fan of Pig Destroyer and also Agoraphobic Nosebleed and was looking forward to this album coming out. Really liking it. It sounds perhaps more conventional than previous work but is still heavy as hell and the riffs are awesome.
 
 
Locust No longer
03:54 / 08.07.07
Just picked this up today... I'm not sure how it holds up yet against "Explosions in Ward Six," "Prowler in the Yard," or "Terrifyer," but so far it's very good. I actually haven't heard "Terrifyer" much, but I dug "Prowler..." and "Explosions..." a lot. I always thought they were a bit pallid compared to the almighty Discordance Axis but now consider them to be probably the best grind band around-- a kind of wonder grind. Um, yeah. And as for them being taken seriously by hipsters: who cares. I think they like California black metal now, but only CA black metal deemed worthy by Southern Lord.
 
  
Add Your Reply