Review: Beggar ‘Compelled To Repeat’

The debut full length from London’s Beggar has been a long time coming, and those of us who have barely sated their lust on their numerous EPs are ready for Compelled To Repeat to destroy us. It is out in April through APF Records, whose back catalogue contains a number of lesser known gems of the UK underground.

Beggar ‘Compelled To Repeat’

The thunderous, knuckle dragging opener Blood Moon possesses the kind of torturous groove that any self respecting sludge band is born with. Savage vocals compliment this expertly, and it is all going just as you’d expect before a quieter and almost soulful solo glides in. It’s this juxtaposition of violence and stylistic shifts that characterises this often startling debut. Anasthete feels like some orthodox black metal, dragged through tar heavy riffs. Those same riffs cascade through the dead valleys of The Cadaver Speaks, curling like black smoke within your lungs, suffocating, choking, miasmic in their intent.

From the sickening crunch of Tenantless The Graves to the Louisianian groan of Matryoshka Brain, Compelled To Repeat is an album of multiple levels where the idea of genre is pushed to its limits…

Compelled To Repeat has so many different genre moments piled into the brew it’s a miracle that this is even coherent, let alone the churning greatness that it is. Post-metal, sludge, death metal, hardcore, black metal; Beggar flirt with them all and filter them all through some huge groove. For a glorious second you think Trepanned Head Stares At The Sun is going to build into a vast soundscape and your dreams are shattered by visceral, death laden violence. I love the unpredictability that Beggar employ throughout. The only constant is an intense atmosphere of anger and rage.

From the sickening crunch of Tenantless The Graves to the Louisianian groan of Matryoshka Brain, Compelled To Repeat is an album of multiple levels where the idea of genre is pushed to its limits, and Beggar are a band whose hatred and bile for the universe is only just beginning to crystalise. A triumphant full length, and if this record doesn’t push Beggar towards a legacy of greatness then it’ll be a big surprise.

Label: APF Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter | Instagram

Scribed by: Sandy Williamson