Review: Slugcrust ‘Discharge(d)’ EP
As is often the way with these things, Discharge(d) by Slugcrust appeared in The Shaman’s list of delectables for review hard on the heels of my reacquaintance (via the YouTube algorithm) with old school grindcore. Serendipitous synchronicity in action or what? A fleeting glance at an Extreme Noise Terror vid and my feed was filled with nuggets spewed forth by the likes of Napalm Death, Unseen Terror, Carcass, The Electro Hippies et al. Oh Happy Day!
Ever since my school friend Budge introduced my unsuspecting teenage ears to the likes of Scum and Reek Of Putrefaction, I’ve had a fascination for this bastard offspring of punk, so after a quick listen to Discharge(d) indicated that it may appeal, I threw my hat in to review it.
Issuing from South Carolina, Slugcrust describe themselves as ‘the relentlessly rampant, orn’ry-toned sound of true southern grind.’ Blimey. I’d describe them as heirs to the sound of the first wave of grindcore, guitar constantly on (or often over) the edge of feedback, blastbeats and tempo changes, crunching bass, downtuned below the range of human hearing, distorted growl-yelled vocals. In short, all the good stuff.
The first track, The Antitrust, sets the tone for the whole EP, Extreme Noise Terror-ish grind, owing more to the scene’s punk roots than to the metal that eventually infiltrated (and diluted the politics of) what came to be known as grindcore. Track three, Default Option, is probably the tune with the clearest line back to its sonic ancestors, with hints of Discharge even shining through at points. And maybe parts also hark back to causes and values espoused by the bands who came before; Slugcrust’s bio lists politics and ecological activism among the themes addressed by their work.
This is a formidable and distinctive slab of music that proves just how powerful hardcore punk, in the right hands, can still be…
Coming in at five tracks and around ten minutes, Discharge(d) is something of a cyclone of hammers. Each track begins with a screech of feedback – not the nice controlled feedback of amps and guitars costing tens of thousands of dollars that have been set up to feedback pleasingly with beautiful harmonics shining through. No, this is everything at eleven, high pitched, painful stuff that only ceases when the actual playing begins, and sometimes not even then. The exception to this is the titular track which begins with fifty seconds of an almost ambient bent before a sludgy tempo makes way for a mid-paced interlude, eventually picking up into a whirlwind of speed that dissolves into feedback.
The standout track for me is Feral Natural. Two minutes of blast beats that slam into a stomping section and a yelled chorus. The drumming on this is frightening in its intensity and its execution. I must’ve played it at least two dozen times, and please excuse the hyperbole, but it’s a perfect piece of hardcore, punk, crust and grind. Music can be functional, in that it performs a particular function for the listener. For me grind is like a form of brain floss, clearing out the detritus accumulated in the mind throughout the day, leaving me with the space and energy to tackle the next round of infuriating idiocy that life thrusts upon me.
A tired and hackneyed criticism often levelled at grindcore is that it all sounds the same. On Discharge(d), over the course of ten minutes and five tracks, Slugcrust prove that this is hogwash. This is a formidable and distinctive slab of music that proves just how powerful hardcore punk, in the right hands, can still be.
Label: Terminus Hate City
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Scribed by: George Green
