Review: Host Body ‘Strain’ EP

It’s a much altogether different experience listening to the EP on the laptop and then hearing it being played in a tiny club hidden underground in the back streets of Manchester. In a live venue, Bristol’s Host Body are brutal, full of intensity, aggression and anger as they bombard you with a constant wall of noise. Whether it’s emanating from the synthesiser of vocalist Steve Roberts, the bass of Sam Drower, the twin guitar assault of Josh Guyett and Patrick Daly or the drums of Conor Geraghty, it’s a relentless barrage that has no let up.

This four-song EP, Strain has its roots in Manchester as it was recorded at No Studio with Joe Clayton from Pijn and opens with a cacophony of electronic noise on The Mountain. The drums kick in and Roberts starts to spit out his lyrics aggressively, yet the music gels together well, with all the instruments, and their musicians, getting a time to shine. It’s passive in parts, aggressive in most of the others and is an intriguing place for them to begin.

If you think there’s going to be any escape from the punishing pandemonium, then you are wrong. It’s a head messing drone that greets you on Swarmer as the drums from Geraghty go into some sort of overdrive. Then, without notice, the pulsating din goes into hyperspace but quickly changes tempo where you can clearly hear Clayton’s influence. However, it’s Drower’s bass that resonates the most for me, as it’s deep and powerful, leading the song on a merry dance, meandering any which way it wants.

With many twists and turns, it’s like a horror/thriller/slasher film…

We are then treated to a shorter, yet equally angry song called Graven Image and I really enjoyed the synth sections on this one as I’m a fan of heavy industrial music that can make your ears bleed, and this does exactly that. I have the image of guitarist/vocalist Josh Guyett throwing himself on and off the stage and bass drum while he’s playing, as the mental parts are truly mental, but in some sort of controlled way. With this one, just listen and enjoy.

They finish with the seven-minute-plus epic journey that is Sanguine which has a delightfully eerie and spooky start that lulls you into a false sense of security but shows they can play at a different pace. Then, as with the others, it breaks out into full-on mayhem allowing each of the individual band members to showcase what they do best.

With many twists and turns, it’s like a horror/thriller/slasher film all encased into one song that keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way until the end. Full of complexity, the melodies are simple and effective, resulting in you requiring a sit down after you’ve listened to it as your body will need time to recover from what it has just experienced.

Label: Independent
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Scribed by: Matthew Williams