The East Coast death metal scene has been killing it lately, and the latest comes from the thrashy repulsion worshippers in Castle Freak. After an extended hiatus and a whole bunch of drama the band is back with what is easily their best release to date. Human Hive represents the promise of the band with all of its chainsaw guitars, tortured vocals and pumping drums. There is something endlessly exciting about Human Hive as if you are tapped into a high speed coked up nightmare, a rock and roll apocalypse brought by the harbingers of hell.
One thing that really gets me about this record is the use of samples. I mean yeah - it's a pretty traditional horror themed death metal trope, but Castle Freak make careful (And frequent) use of them to help accentuate exactly who they are. There is a sense of cosmic terror with each and every riff, the at times hectic playing only adding to the madness. The counterbalance of chaos and order that defines so many of these songs is strangely addictive. As the band blasts forward with a sort of primordial rage it's hard to not want to bust into a circle pit and bust the skull of your follow East Coast metal freaks.
There is a certain pulse behind his album that keeps it just on he verge of exploding at any given moment. The new members of the band (Sebastian Phillips of Noisem and Ben Anft formerly of Necropsy, a precursor to Noisem) manage to bring in their own touches to the sound and help Castle Freak to be perhaps exactly the band that their scene needs right now. Ferocious, violent and endlessly exciting Human Hive hints at great things to come from these metal freaks, now we just need to wait and see them follow up.
Find them on Facebook!
No comments:
Post a Comment