Released: 3rd April 2020
Rating: ★★★
On ‘Viscerals’, Pigsx7 have moved on from the blood-curdling hardcore that ruled their previous releases, deeper into sludge, doom and anything else you can think of in the realms of metal.
They’ve become more eccentric and unforgiving, if that was even possible, with the record itself feeling like a precarious journey through uncharted territories (with the main stop being hell), as vocals boom and tribal chants bellow. This is your Pigsx7 initiation, and there’s no way out.
The scope of music is cavernous, the thrashy and unrelenting ‘World Crust’ is built on grooving garage-rock undertones (Pigsx7 at their best), and prog tinges on the goliath ‘Halloween Bolson’ add yet another dimension to the batshit world of this Geordie oddity.
‘Viscerals’ is fearless while also inducing fear at the same time. It’s not an easy listen by any means, but its an intelligent effort and heavy metal in its rawest and most ruthless form.
Jasleen Dhindsa
