by Álvaro Molina (@alvaromolinare)
In early April of this year, grindcore kings Pig Destroyer called all fans to submit clips they would compile and use for the music video of “The Cavalry." In a weekend, they got over 300 submissions. An army of followers of the PD slaughter cult sent insane footage that included, among other things, beer chugging devotees, cats, headbangers, a cute little picnic with fluffy toys gone bad, a corgi, and a little girl in a Superman cape stabbing a stuffed pig; a showcase of true, primal, and visceral fandom. Truth is, it’s a fucking awesome outcome for a band that has been around for almost 25 years spreading a bludgeoning gospel of loathsome and raucous heavy metal.
It’s pretty obvious that this well-owned legendary status allows them to do whatever the hell they want. On The Octagonal Stairway EP, Piggy D crushes and bashes again our unholy ears with straightforward, sludgy grind. However, given that pushing extremity to its gnarliest limits is a signature for this Virginia outfit, this new release throws in some eerie industrial and abject noise electronics B-sides, that may estrange some diehard fans. Either way, these are trying and strange times, fellas, so any weird and scary sounds are more than welcome.
The first side of the EP is unbound by scorchers of technical grindcore, heavy doses of blast beats, hardcore grooves and hammering riffs chiseled in a spine of gnawed bone. J.R. Hayes’ shrieking vocals pierce the ears with loathsome growls of self-hatred thrown into an abyss of human decay and ensnaring disgust (“I’m just a cameraman / who never stops rolling / I confess / things are not what they seem / I’m a shadow acting like a human being”). Scott Hull’s dissonant and thrusting guitar work and Adam Jarvis’ manic drumming cut like a chainsaw through the muscles when things go full crossover thrash on “The Cavalry.” The grittiness of these tracks really arrives at the best of times, when everything feels like a frail stairway falling apart because of poisonous confusion and feelings of entrapment in a rambling gutter of sheer uncertainty.
Things get even spookier when the uncanny electronics of The Octagonal Stairway, heralded by Blake Harrison’s warped genius, take the stage. “News Channel 6” is a creepy “Good Morning America” of catastrophic headlines that questions our own meddling in the shit we’ve fucked up. A sinister newsreader voice spits: “Be ashamed of everything that’s ever happened, it’s your fault”. Quite inspiring. The sadistic industrial and avant-garde noise keeps throbbing on “Head Cage” and its eerie, twisted spoken word passages that truly make you feel oppressed by your deeper subconscious and and is joined by a misleading sensation of self-awareness. Iggor Calavera, Brazil’s legendary psycho-head, makes a special guest appearance on “Sound Walker” and oh boy, his “field, ambient, noise and drum machine” contributions are something that’ll make you run to your mama if you listen to it in the wrong state of mind. It’s a masochistic soundtrack of despair funneled through pure experimental warfare that displays Pig Destroyer’s most sadistic undertones.
The Octagonal Stairway brilliantly captures the decadent stream of contemporary consciousness. Whether it is by shredding eardrums with jigsaw riffs or making you feel awkwardly self-aware through cinematic noise, these tracks are essential if you’re looking to dwell in a vast maze of primal and visceral sonic freedom.