(written by Islander)
On January 23rd, just a couple days from now, Iron Fortress Records will release a new EP by the Massachusetts brutal death metal trio Matriphagy, digitally and in a CD edition that also includes songs from a previous Matriphagy split and an EP as bonuses. What we have for you today is a premiere stream of all the songs on the new EP.
This EP, titled From Nothing to Nothingness, includes three tracks, the last of which is Matriphagy’s demented and demolishing re-working of the Cryptopsy song “Benedictine Convulsions“. All three songs are ruinously punishing, unhinged in various ways, and frequently as head-spinning as they are traumatic.
The EP’s title song “From Nothing To Nothingness” is, in a word, ruthless. The guns go off like overheating machine-guns which sound like they’re right outside your door; the heavy, grit-caked riffing whips, slashes, and maniacally swarms; the equally gritty vocals bellow and scream.
When the band slow the speed of their riffing (there’s no slowing the drums, which are persistently berserk) they transform the music into a hulking sonic monstrosity, one that also dismally buzzes and mindlessly squeals.
A few things jump out immediately from that title song: On the one hand, Matriphagy are capable of creating a primitive and pulverizing experience, one that’s humongously heavy, cold, and cruel, but also muscle-moving. On the other hand they complement that punishing brutality with embellishments that are technically impressive and just downright freakish.
“The Epitome Of Disgust” reinforces those impressions. Immediately, it’s catastrophically riotous, a fast-changing kaleidoscope of battering-ram brutishness, asylum-strength wildness, and thuggishly stomping slams. The tempos are in constant flux, and as they shift around the band inject grisly fretwork flurries and periods of groaning misery, as well as a screaming and eerily spiraling guitar solo that will pop eyes wide open.
Before the end the band also fire up their pile-drivers, both fast and slow, bent on hammering listeners deep into the ground — but not before piercing your brain with one more demented guitar solo.
What Matriphagy do with their cover of “Benedictine Convulsions” is — no surprise by now — both extravagantly destructive and utterly crazed. It slugs with no mercy and no remorse, but the guitars also writhe, and something injects strangely quivering bursts of sound. The band also cause the music to rise up like some terrible black tower, a fitting prelude for another utterly wild guitar solo and further jaw-dropping guitar and drumming convulsions.
And of course they’re not going to finish that song without jackhammering your defenseless form into a shattered scattering of bone shards and viscera.
The EP really is a hell of a spectacle and it’s diabolically addictive — and way more multi-dimensional than bog-standard brutal death metal. See for yourselves:
Formed in 2016, Matriphagy consists of Devin Dickinson (guitar/vocals) and Will Robinson (drums/vocals), both of Wretched Inferno, alongside Ray Brouwer (guitar/bass) of Ancient Death. Their new EP was recorded, mixed, and mastered by @slamception at The Infernal Crypt, and it features artwork by the great Jon Zig.
CDs and artwork shirts are now available for pre-order through Iron Fortress Records via the link below. As mentioned earlier, the CD includes not only Matriphagy’s new EP but also, as bonus tracks, the songs from the band’s Mass Death split with Wretched Inferno and their complete Abysm of Time EP. The EP will also be available digitally.
PRE-ORDER:
https://www.ironfortressrecords.com/
FOLLOW MATRIPHAGY:
https://www.facebook.com/Matriphagy
https://www.instagram.com/matriphagyofficial