Mid-Atlantic mavens of grind Pig Destroyer return for the first time in six years with the highly anticipated Head Cage, their sixth proper full-length. Things start off with a PSA set to disturb the listener before the rest of the album sets in with “Dark Train.” The aforementioned track is vintage PxDx with furious guitars and angry shouted hardcore vocals.
The band does try to do something new on “Army of Cops” with an additional vocalist in Richard Johnson (Agorophobic Nosebleed) going back and forth with J.R. Hayes; This is also a relatively mid-paced affair instead of going into full mayhem mode for the early part of this album.
“Circle River” and “The Torture Fields” are a bit more straightforward for the band; they are able to rock out complete with furious aplomb. Moving through to “Concrete Beast,” things slow down and the guitars sound fatter and meatier that usual at this speed, which works to the variety of music the band is putting out.
That’s perhaps a slight nod to their last recorded material Mass & Volume, showcasing a different side of the band in a more doom and sludge vein. However if you are looking for the band in all of its former glory, look no further than “Mt. Skull” which is a no holds barred affair that will satiate fans from any generation of Pig Destroyer.
“House of Snakes” closes out the album and at over seven minutes long is one of the longest tracks that the band has ever recorded. It is a slow build and it goes all over the map genre-wise but nothing too out of left field from the band’s core strengths.
All in all, Head Cage is a strong return from a well-established band that tries a few new things but never gets completely away from what they are all about; fast and furious music by some really angry dudes. And at the end of the day, that’s why we’re here, right?
(released September 7, 2018 on Relapse Records)
