Planet Of The Pigs (2009)
I don’t believe for anyone who’s read much of this blog it’s a big leap to realise that Death/Grind is about as far from my ‘normal listening’ as it gets within the metal genre. Whether this means this is a band that have done something really spectacular to catch my attention, or this is only on the cusp of being a part of the genre I am unsure. What I am sure of though is this album has happily been a consistent part of my playlist for a while now, and it still feels as fresh and addictive as it did when I first gave it a spin.
Certainly, this isn’t a band to follow suit with the crowd, an apparent willingness to do things their own way, and the vocals are no different. With the lead spending most of his time performing an energetic mid-ranged rasp, he is assisted by the guitarists in providing high pitched shrieks and the commonly found death grunting. Rather than any individual being particularly adept, the combination that they are far enough back in the mix so as to give the impression they are yelling at the top of their lungs, yielding a powerful sense of aggression, coupled with the frequent interchanges between vocalists giving a chaotic and frantic tone to the proceedings more than compensates.
The drumming is competent, easily heard but rather basic by comparison to the combination of vocals and guitars which steal the show. With a deep sludge-like distortion they provide a machine-gunning of riffs, simplistic yet hard hitting and easily capable of mixing things up. This doesn’t appear to be a band interested in ‘sounding more aggressive’ than what came before it, showing a willingness to slow things down to a – comparatively doom like – crawl, and even provide the odd psychedelic interlude to shake things up, contrasting the more aggressive passages. The bass is more than capable of holding his own during slower sections, and the guitars prove themselves in their all too infrequent solos, proving a flurry of squealing notes to contrast the bass work.
Clocking at 30mins this is a rather short release, but that simply means they have trimmed all the fat. This is an album demonstrating the chaos that can be created without sounding monotonous, layering addictive riff after riff in an ever-changing unrelenting musical assault, and it is one album I have yet to tire of listening to.
Highlights: Inspection Report, Demon Alcohol, Reborn
T. Bawden, *4.5 / 5, Death, Grind
Metal-archives.com
On Pigsty's latest full-length, which I picked up at MDF VII, the Czech grinders mix it up a bit more than previous efforts 'The Return' and 'Pigs are Back.' Don't get me wrong, this beast still grinds and thrashes your face to a pulp, but there's definitely been more thought put into these songs than previous efforts and the band has grown in leaps and bounds here since the EP 'Living Dead Stars.'
Opener 'Inspection Report' sets the stage for the bludgeoning, with an apocalyptic opening riff and then we're hit with a quick acoustic break, then BOOM! The grind hits you in the face like a brick. The production is very clear and is easily the clearest production of any of their releases, but still maintains an edge of rawness. After the opener, we move into 'Brand-New Dawn,' which is much more like older Pigsty. From there, the riffs and drums just simply destroy. The humor is still intact, with song titles like 'Santa's Last Ride' and 'Demon Alcohol,' the latter being the best song on the album with its random psychedelic interludes, which easily bring to mind Cephalic Carnage's quirky jazz ramblings. All songs are well-written and it's obvious that Pigsty are ready to take it to the next level. A problem with a lot of grindcore is many of the songs tend to sound so similar, but Pigsty has remedied that with all songs standing out on their own.
There will certainly be old fans who will not be happy with some of the stylistic changes they have made here, but these changes do not completely keep an old listener from enjoying this new disc. The vocals are the only thing that I could see someone not being able to get into because of being shouted instead of the normal grind/gore squeals and grunts. Grindcore purists/elitists might not be able to get past this small intricacy, but this is a welcome breath of fresh air in the genre.
A big step forward - 92%
Written by NecroJonicon on June 8th, 2009
Teufelstomb.com
Evolution through ape and intergalactic pig has provided the world with some serious ear candy. Grind it!
I’ll take my grind any which way, as long as it destroys. Bands like Cephalic Carnage, Gronibard, Leng T’che, and Fuck The Facts who tweak and tamper with the original recipe are just fine by me. Bands like Insect Warfare and Gadget who strictly go for the jugular in the more traditional sense are always equally appreciated. Pigsty are a group of polish instrument abusers who add swine jizz to the formula in several convincing ways.
Their vocal approach, which is the first element that stands out, incorporates healthy doses of yelling the hardcore way. Usually this would be a problem for me when it comes to grind vocals. Pigsty pull it off effortlessly. One track entitled “It’s Too Easy” certainly rings true for their absolute decimation through ten tracks. There are pissed screams and gutteral growls, but the hardcore vocals are dominant. Also, it sounds and appears as though the entire group add to the vocal mix. Their primary vocalist does not play any instruments live that I have seen from their exstensive live shots. The other thing that these guys do to fuck with grind’s boundaries is to throw in moments of effect-laden guitars, one guitar and one bass, to change up the grind dynamic. “Demon Alcohol” is a brilliant example of this. In the midst of geothermal grinding they break into a cleaned up chorusy, reverbed, slightly phasered moment only the trippiest hippie could dream up. It is nothing to do with the plight of Georgian metal, it is absolutely killer. This interlude comes in throughout the song and never gets old. Although this is the most pronounced moment of “fun with effect pedals”, the album has just enough of this sonic fuckery to keep the album fresh without becoming schticky.
At the heart of Pigsty’s The Planet Of The Pigs lies some of the catchiest and fun, yes fun, grinding and song writing I’ve heard from anything steeped in grind for years. They really have developed a unique sound in this world of plastic clones. How refreshing is that? It’s retorical. And in case you’re wondering about the pig thing… Apparently, the humans that evolved only from monkeys are simply not that intelligent. These grinders claim to have been evolved through monkey and “universe pig” which helps explain why they are so damn bitchin’. I had never heard of Pigsty until this release. They have an extensive discography though. From what I’ve read, the present vocal approach isn’t quite what their older stuff sounded like. In any event, I’m sure some backtracking is certainly in order. Do the world a favor, pick this up, roll the windows down, and let your shitty car stereo disintegrate by way of Pigsty. Then get a real stereo worthy of them.
Review by Silky Bravado
Goregeous Productions
The pigs are back! I remember last time I reviewed Pigsty and it was around 2005 when they released 'Pigs are back' and since then this Czech grind tornado has released 'Living Dead Stars' + a repress of their first album 'The Return'. Now they are back with 10 new tracks and every time I hear something new from Pigsty I get really happy, cause these guys has their own sound, no other band sounds like Pigsty! Prepare for a an album filled with grind, hardcore, death!! The only thing I could complain about is that there should be more of Topi's pig vocals but this is not that important because this disc of grind mayhem satisfy all my needs. 'Demon Alcohol', 'Brand-new Dawn' are my favourites.
(9/10 - Martin)