Remember bands like Nails, All Pigs Must Die, Trap Them and other Southern Lord bands of the mid 00s? That grimy, downturned, feedback laced Swedish death metal-meets hardcore and grind/d-beat sound that Gatecreeper , Fuming Mouth and such expanded on more recently? Well, the UKS Mastiff is here to take you back to that with their debut Deprecipice.

Deprecipice is the band’s 4th album, and is a brutal, nasty,no frills 10 song punch in the face that continues and develops from the last album Leave Me the Ashes of the Earth, with a heavier denser, chainsaw-sounding tone (from long-time producer Joe Clayton), and it’s a killer ride.

This is one of those releases that long-winded hyperbole and creative analogy just seem kinda of wasted on. This is one of those releases that you just need to go listen to and let it beat you about the head and neck for its bruising 34-minute run time, then go take some Advil (oh sorry this is a UK band… take some paracetamol).

 

This Iron Monkey/Gatecreeper love child spares no women or children from the opener “Bite Radius” to closer “Thorn Trauma”  with meaty riffs deserving of their massive canine moniker, lumbering fetid grooves sludgy crawls, and snarling blasts like appropriately named “Skin Stripper” and “Thorn Trauma” (where I really got Trap Them vibes).

A few moments of discordant programmed noise arise here and there like in “Cut Throat” or “The Shape”, but mostly there are just caustic, menacing, loping riffs like standouts “Everything is Ending”, “Void”,”Worship” and thunderous Xibalba-ish “Pitiful” (the breakdown after the shout of “Fuck this world, let it burn!” is fucking savage).

The vocals from Jim Hodge and Lee Ross are a perfect mix of gruff bellows and feral screams and it all comes together for a surprise album that kind of grabbed me by the throat outta nowhere and shook me around here in early 2024 and is certainly (and literally)  going to leave its mark for the rest of the year.

[Visit the band's website]

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