Have you ever come upon a band that sounded so hateful and intense that you began asking yourself why has this band slipped past your radar?  Several years ago my good friend Graham sent me a Bandcamp link to End’s Splinters From An Ever​-​Changing Face album.  Honestly, I cannot remember for the life of me why I did not check that album out and Graham sends me the link to this brand new album by End – The Sins of Human Frailty.

I preface this to say that now I am the proud owner of End’s digital discography.  Back to my opening question!!!!  Yeah…..END is that band… A super group Hailing from New Jersey and with members of Shai Hulud, Counterparts, Fit for an Autopsy and The Dillinger Escape Plan,  END incorporates elements of hardcore/black metal/grindcore/industrial all tied up with thought-provoking and grief stricken lyrics encapsulated in what I am hailing as the most bludgeoning release of 2023.

Holy Shit!!!  10 songs in 30 minutes “A Predator Yourself” starts things off with a little feedback and right into the off-kilter grind and the music is so vicious with venomous vocals to basically open your throat and shit right down your gulliver.  The breakdown at the 1.08 section is massive as is this guitar sound.  At 1.22 it’s the shortest song on the album before “Gaping Wounds of Earth” starts with a sludge heaviness before the grind erupts and is ferocious.. The drums at the 1.10 section with the dissonance of the guitar is pure madness and the jumpiness to the slow-down groove, will have pits at the 2-minute mark leveling cities worldwide.  Did you hear that…..come a little closer…yes right there.  Did you hear that explosion go off??  That was me as I picked up your neighborhood and blasted it into orbit during this monstrous groove.

After the Take No Prisoners album title slaps you in da face “Thaw” comes in with some industrial/samples influences and this is an interesting song.  It reminded me of Fear Factory from Fear in the Mindkiller and Skin Chamber with some Godflesh leanings as well.  Some cool drumming before the noise elements kick in with this song.  It’s distorted, atmospheric and quite honestly with some of the various vocal elements and effects makes for a disturbing listening experience.  Shut off the lights and listen to this song..It’s peaceful too, with some of the piano and guest vocals by Debbie Gough of Heriot towards the end of the song.

Dylan Walker of Full Of Hell lends his vox to “Worthless Is The Lamb”.  This has amazing blasts to open the track…and they are intense as the vicious vocals erupt through your speakers and tombstone piledriving you right through the concrete.  “Twice Devoured Kill” features a guest vocal appearance from J.R. Hayes of Pig Destroyer.  This song has more off-tempo and non-linear musical patterns and some excellent drums on this song.  The guitars are heavy, distorted and in some respects quite cold.  It adds to the stomping madness that happens during the groove moments and the start and stop moments at the 1.39 section are crafted perfectly.

If you are into bands like: Pig Destroyer, Godflesh, Fear Factory, Nasum, Anaal Nathrakh, Skin Chamber, Mouth For War, Pyrrhon –  then I feel you need to add END to your musical rotation.  This is pure power-violence type of music that will make you want to drop elbows, punch faces and collapse chest cavities all damn day.  The Sins of Human Frailty, by END, shows us all why extreme music should be dangerous sounding, as much as it is thrilling.

[Visit the band's website]

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