Loud, dirty and sludgy – just three words that can be used to describe the rather brilliant new album from Welsh noisemakers Hogslayer. Entitled Defacer, it’s a pretty apt title because this is a piece that will melt faces.
There’s this wonderful fuzzy tone to the piece throughout, which somehow manages to make the album sound even more heavier than it already does, and the vocal delivery is something to behold. There’s a tremendous amount of body behind them, sounding meaty whilst also being succinct and to the point.
Yes, at times it does sound like Hogslayer are simply making noise for the sake of it, but arguably that’s the beauty of the album. Bludgeon begins with squealing and almost ear-splitting guitars before taking more of a murky (but just as in-your-face) approach and closing track Mealworm starts off slowly before building up and up into what is most certainly a triumphant finish to Defacer.
Admittedly it would be nice to see a little more variance in the song structures, but as a whole this is a memorable and well-constructed piece that will hopefully propel Hogslayer into becoming one of the bigger names in the British sludge scene.
8/10
