I mean, they’re called Blunt Knife Castration…so you’re going to press play aren’t you? This filthy offering of excremental, noisy joy is the third full-length in three years from this UK based sludge/deathpunk/groove/industrial-core project. And no, that’s not a real genre.
This appears to be a one-man project to all intents and purposes – although the drumming certainly sounds very real so either Simon Bryant, the individual who is responsible for the current spate of blunt knife castrations, is a whizz with the old humanising, drum velocities and reverb; or he’s just a revoltingly talented guy, or someone else has played them.
Saying that, despite the sludgey, punky and, at times almost nu-metal, riffing at play here, one of the overriding echoes I kept hearing was Godflesh. There is an industrial stomp, particularly in tracks such as ‘Gunshot Selfie’ and ‘Guilt Pig’ that were unapologetically dissonant and experimental, yet never slipping out one’s grasp.
There is a plethora of dynamics and shifts on display – a perfect example being the low-budget cinema-scape ‘Swallow’ with its caustic, synth-heavy swells complete with dirty, carotid artery blockage vocals, pitted against a descending, picked riff that sounds like Machine Head playing Eyehategod.
This is an album that will always dwell in the fringes of existence. It’s certainly stained and spattered, in a good way, although that can gradually have less of an impact over the, quite lengthy, 48 minutes running time. My only other observation/miniscule gripe is that the vocal effects (delay, overdrive) can at times be quite overpowering and, possibly, attempt to sound too warped over a backdrop that is already dripping in unpleasantness and irregularity.
None of this detracts from the fact that ‘Blood & Oil’ is a very fine record, and well worth a listen or six. Just make sure you wear a good strong pair of underpants.
Best paired With: used engine oil, a dark corner and a set of sharper knives.
reviewed by Jaff.
Blood & oil is out now on remorseless records/independent
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