Recommended for fans of: Soilent Green, Wake, Inter Arma
One of the best things in life is discovering a cool new band out of the blue.
Sadly by the time I discovered this particular band – a considerable amount of time after the release of their second album – the group had gone worryingly quiet, with only a passing teaser of them working on their next release in late 2020 indicating they were still alive, leading me to assume that they’d most likely quietly gone on hiatus (if not broken up entirely).
But the recent release of their long-gestating third album, ///, has firmly put to rest any exaggerated rumours of the bands demise… which is why today I have the great pleasure of (re)introducing you to the face-melting, flesh-ripping, full-throttle Sludge-Grind of Secret Cutter
2014 – SELF TITLED
Wasting no time and taking no prisoners, “Mirror Mirror” starts off with a squall of ear-splitting feedback and throat-shredding vocals, before dropping into an ugly, lurching groove that’s laced with jagged, discordant teeth, while the nervous energy of “Deformed Eye” then kicks the pace and the punishment up another notch with its harshly hooky blend of early Neurosis-esque Crust-Punk and slithering, suppurating Sludge-Grind.
“17.5 Dead Air” then adds a touch of doom-laden menace to the proceedings as the song doubles down on the heavy, heaving Sludge riffs and howling, hate-fuelled screams – think Crowbar having an all out tooth ‘n’ nail brawl with members of Converge – whose occasional flashes of bleak melody then bleed into the intro of “Craving the Silence” (one of the album’s early highlights whose absolutely crushing Doom-core stylings wouldn’t sound out of place on a Primitive Man record).
In what seems like an attempt to give their audience a serious case of sonic, if not physical, whiplash, the bruising combo of chattering chug-a-thon “Vow of Poverty” and scorching, Soilent Green flavoured face-melter “Shake the Malevolent” push things much further towards the Grindcore side of things…which is probably why the band smartly try to ease off a little with the knowingly-named “Midtro”.
Of course, this doesn’t last very long (about 61 seconds, in fact) as the sinister, sludge-ridden grooves and sudden, blast-driven explosions of “End of Sylvan” – whose massive guitars, frantic expulsions of energy, and raw, ranting vocals make it another major stand-out – bring the hammer down again soon enough, with the grim, grinding ground ‘n’ pound of “Headache Ball” and the infectiously discordant disgust of “Driftwood” (another one I’d mark as a major highlight, as well as an early sign of things to come) subsequently adding to the punishment as the album crawls, broken-toothed and bloody-mouthed, towards its inevitable climax.
2018 – QUANTUM ERASER
As good as their self-titled debut was, Quantum Eraser is on a whole new level – bigger, beefier, heavier, harsher, with guitars that hit like sludge-soaked sledgehammers and booming drums that drop like bombs on every track (including the all-too-aptly-named “Introduction”).
It’s the devastating, Death Metal riffage and seething, pseudo-melodic hooks of “Trampled By Light” – part Black Breath, part Lord Mantis, part Meshuggah – that really showcase how far the band have come however, delivering one of the most brutal musical beatings (that neck-wrecking finale in particular is a thing of monstrous beauty) of the band’s career so far.
“Bended Knee” then goes for an even more intense assault on the senses, bursting out the speakers in a blaze of Death-Grind fury before sinking into a suffocating swamp of doomy sludge, after which the eerily virulent “4 1/2” introduces a touch of moody melody and a dash of brooding atmosphere in a way which reminds me of their Canadian “Post-Grind” cousins Wake circa Misery Rites.
“Transient” then continues down a similar path, the song’s subtle melodic/atmospheric threads serving as a welcome contrast to the track’s gargantuan, gut-wrenching grooves and howling, heart-attack vocals, after which the short, savage grind attack of “Vow of Obedience” helps clear any remaining cobwebs out before “Mantis” drags the record into the dark ‘n’ doomy depth of the Post-Sludge subduction zone, building the pressure and crushing claustrophobia with each passing moment.
The Wake comparisons continue to bear vicious, venomous fruit during “Doormat”, whose charred, churning riffs and pounding, pulse-raising drums lock in to form a dense, gravity-distorting core of pure, punishing heaviness, after which (following the chaotic interlude of “Delayed Choice”) the ground-shaking tectonic terrorism of “Avalanche” and the humongously heavy “Oblivion” (both of which reveal, and revel in, the band’s surprising gift for injecting moments of haunting melody into their work) bring the album to a suitably cataclysmic close.
2025 – ///
Seven years is a pretty long time to force people to wait between albums… though I’m sure the band had their reasons… so it’s vital that Secret Cutter bring the heat on their big “comeback”, ///.
And, oh boy, do they ever, as “Subject to Change” quickly reintroduces the listener to the band’s stunning brand of “Sludge-Grind” (for want of a better descriptor), smashing you straight in the face with a series of gigantic, ugly riffs that feel just that little bit more raw – while still possessing that same weighty sonic presence – and drums that punch just as hard as ever, while also cutting through that little bit more cleanly.
The nauseating lurch of “Spleen” and the Meshuggah-influenced grind ‘n’ groove of “Humanoid” then up the ante – the latter especially – with a filthy ferocity that rivals Inter Arma at their most morbid and manic (respectively), while the strangely streeetched and insidiously infectious strains of “Destined to Fail” further showcase the more unusual and unconventional side of the band’s sludgey repertoire.
With “Feeding the Gods” they once more lean heavily into the claustrophobic atmospherics and predatory “Post-Sludge/Post-Grind” stylings of Wake, while maintaining an even darker, doomier edge to the proceedings which also allows them to incorporate some subtle layers of dissonant melody into the mix, after which they crank the intensity and the physicality way back up with the unrelenting (and appropriately titled) attack of “Charging Bull”.
“Siren Song” then pushes the album even further into the red with a blend of grinding, in-your-face intensity and buzzing, visceral virulence that you’re going to feel in your back teeth, with the jagged, jarring riffs and grisly, glass-chewing vocals of “Voice of the Tongueless” hitting just as hard (and serving as possibly the perfect example of how Secret Cutter meld both Sludge and Grind into something gnarlier and nastier than both).
Climaxing with the brooding, Post-Metal adjacent strains of “Ghosts of Our Youth” and the killer combo of sludgy, staggering doom riffs and abrasive, shotgun-blast drum bursts which makes up “Myriad”, /// doesn’t so much end with a bang… or a whimper… but with MOAB-sized explosion of pure venom and vitriol that should, hopefully, mean that Secret Cutter won’t remain a secret much longer!