Couch Slut - Take a Chance on Rock n' Roll (2020)

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Couch Slut have been around for the last 6 years quietly making a lot of noise in the form of noise-rock mixed with a healthy amalgamation of influences and soundscapes running the gamut of punk, doom, sludge, hardcore and throwing in glimpses of anything else they can get their grubby mitts on – experimentation. Amidst the chaos, Couch Slut have managed to create a sound that is almost wholly unique in their delivery and I can't help but find myself reaching to hit the play button. If sonic aspects of Brainbombs, Indian, Jute Gyte, Converge and Iron Lung were distilled into a singular sound it might come out sounding like this.

Take a Chance on Rock n' Roll (bandcamp)

Portrayal of Guilt - Let Pain Be Your Guide (2018)

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This one has my attention for some reason, which I find mild interesting because it feels like something ripped out of my past, a bygone era of halcyon days and unsure moments in time… And it has all the markings of something I don't find myself indulging in much these days, sonically speaking. I know very little about Portrayal of Guilt, but I like Gilead Media (mostly) so I'm hoping this plays out similarly to Full of Hell's Trumpeting Ecstasy.

Let Pain Be Your Guide (bandcamp)

Mutilation Rites - Chasm (2018)

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Mutilation Rites newest full-length is real pleasant, in a sort of ugly and decrepit kind of way… It's charms are hidden in the mire, under layers of cold riffs and bastille day like war drums as its ferocious commander coughs out commands and chokes on bile. A two-headed beast of black metal and death metal, a not so uncommon amalgam these days…but hey, peanut butter and chocolate right? (chocolate and mint is wrong)

I'm liking what I've heard off of Chasm so far, I'm sure I could nit-pick but the production is pretty spot on for this ilk, murky. I have listened through Chasm a few times since writing this, each time I have gone back I'm finding another thing to like about it, especially in the wake of those trumpeting icy riffs that sway from galloping to mid-tempo glacial sludge to bang thy brain to and fro.

* It's worth noting Gilead Media has Chasm up on Bandcamp to buy for only $6, that's very, very reasonable and a good halfway point between affordable. It takes money to make a record.

Mutialtion Rites - Chasm (bandcamp)