While Water Torture‘s Shellfire! might be one of the hardest hitting things to come out of 2012, their split via Nerve Altar with Australian noise blasters thedowngoing shouldn’t be missed.
For those unfamiliar with Water Torture you’d be surprised to learn they create their ugly, noisy brand of power violence without guitars. Instead, two heavily distorted basses hum and thump about creating a dissonant and heavy cudgle that locks in perfectly with the frantic drumming and strained vocals. After the buzzing and screeching intro of harsh electronics the band drifts in and out of consciousnesses with short blasts of raging power violence only slowing down to ramp up again. I’m still a sucker for Shellfire! but this isn’t anything to scoff at.
On the flip side thedowngoing displays their equally noisy, yet thinner and guitar based brand of grindcore. Reminiscent of Discordance Axis in their angular, screeching guitars, thedowngoing are a blown out mess compressed and strewn out amongst just under 5 minutes worth of material. A bit more focused than earlier works, thedowngoing continue to develop their style and cut away the fat of previous efforts.
A wet dream for fans of grindcore/power violence that flirts with noise and no doubt a pleasant surprise for those unfamiliar with the brand, this split’s a gem.
Doug Brown
December 31, 2012 at 7:44 am
Spot on review. Killer EP and I strongly suggest checking out their full catalog!