Newly-christened Bastard Feast, a band from Portland, Oregon formerly known as Elitist, have released their first album under the new name, and it is a doozy. Their previous offering, Fear in a Handful of Dust was an exhausting affair of blackened hardcore/sludge, standing comfortably but distinctly alongside the likes of Coffinworm or Generation of Vipers.

This one is even more intense. It rips with the punk-infused blackened intensity of Nails‘ finer moments, or a crustier Ravencult, although the atmosphere is thicker than either of those bands, and the vocals far more tortured. There are some dissonant, sludgy touches that call to mind Coffinworm (see especially “The Serpent Spoke”). “Noose of Smoke” has some of the dissonant fury of Deathspell Omega. “A Tribute to What We Stole” features a ridiculously thick, dirty variation on the d-beat, which comes more to the fore in the next track, “Watchful Defiler.” There is also a perverse death metal feel to some of the tracks, such as “Claustrophobic of this World,” along the lines of Antediluvian and Vasaeleth.

There are no stand-out tracks; each one has something unique to offer, and compliments the whole of the album. Only 10-minute closer “Synthetic Messiah” stands apart as an almost funerary doom piece, a contrast to the chaos and unbridled fury of the previous tracks. It acts as a fitting come-down, dragging the album to an end in a black pit of misanthropy, slowly hammering the last nail in the unholy coffin.

This is hands down a year-end contender for me. I was hoping for this sort of thing from the new Trap Them and was disappointed, but this one fits the bill and then some. It’s utterly filthy, bleak, and unrelenting. There have been a lot of strong releases this year, but nothing has quite grabbed me like this one. And by grabbed, I mean beaten me senseless into blind submission and terror.

[Visit the band's website]

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