Sunday, July 5, 2009

ALBUM OF THE WEEK


Pig Destroyer 'Explosions in Ward 6' LP 1999, Clean Plate Records/Reservoir Records

This week the clock goes backwards again; the records that we can always count on live in the past. And why look to the present, when we can look backwards in time and hold onto whatever we hope exists in some current shit. The records that come out these days wish that they could slay like records before them did, but they can't, it is impossible. We want them to, even if we think that we want to hear some new shit, its a lie. Lies. That is why we constantly go deeper into the past, to try and hear what was going on while we were ignorant to whatever it might be, or things that we once thought were lame, or we weren't feeling, or weren't alive yet, etc. Alas- I get wrapped up in the timeline, in my own need to honor the past while giving some degree of credibility to current releases, which often are a mere shadow of past albums that rule and smash shit. No one is at fault for this mystery, but how interesting it is to note how back in the day was often way better. So without further dialogue about that stuff, here we have the beast known as Explosions in Ward 6, a perilous and extremely ripping 19 minute ride through negativity itself. Long before any of the other Pig Destroyer records were heard by these ears, I came upon this joint at a swap meet in the old West End warehouses in 2002. Not knowing about Pig Destroyer, or really much about grindcore at the time, I picked it up because my curiosity towards their cover of The Melvins' "Oven" was too strong to ignore. Long before the album reached The Melvins cover (six songs into it but not long, time-wise), I was blown to bits! This shit slayed harder than fuck. It was then that I discovered grind, and could hear it properly, as metal that ruled. Thus began my quest to shred my head into nothing, staring face to face with maximum volume. You need what you need and whatnot. Anyways let me step down from this soapbox storytelling for a second, I'm not sure why this review went like it did but fuck it, whatever, I'm an author. Plus Pig Destroyer rules, we established that long ago on here, they already had lots of shine and proper recognition here on thearticles.org. Explosions in Ward 6 is their first full length- it landed their Relapse Recordings spot where they still remain ten years later. 2001's 38 Counts of Battery saw the re-release of Explosions and some earlier demo/splits together on one record, but I feel that to get the intended bludgeoning that Pig Destroyer had in mind in 1998 when they made this, you've got to listen to it on it's own record just out of respect. It is the rawest, most easily imaginable ripping up somebodys' house show in Virginia version of Pig Destroyer, it has the rage that a grind band in 1998 has but it is Pig Destroyer so its way stronger than normal. Though their whole catalog completely rips, I've listened to this LP the most because its the one I've had the longest. It has so many songs on it, And its only 19 minutes long. Do not be fooled by its brevity, lest you would be a total idiot wiener for doing so. This shit is vicious, poisonous venom type shit, long out of print but worth the search like some ancient artifacts. Until next week- Power and Unity my dears. Enjoy the special video below.

1 comment:

jay atkins said...

great record