Agoraphobic Nosebleed | facebook | twitter | bandcamp |
Released on January 22, 2016 via Relapse Records
Despite being known for short vicious blasts of grindcore and almost never playing live in their twenty year career, Scott Hull’s four piece have shaken things up over the last 12 months. A foray into live performances in 2003 lead eventually to a full show happening at last year’s Maryland DeathFest. As well as this, the band have followed in the footsteps of KISS and (the) Melvins by having each member writing an EP in their own preferred style. First up is vocalist Kat Katz’s EP Arc, and it couldn’t be more of a surprise.
This is a very different proposition from your usual Agoraphobic Nosebleed fare. Opener ‘Not A Daughter’ eases you into the release gradually, a stoner influenced sludge that is just as visceral as the band’s usual material, just in a very different way. The fact that the track is over seven minutes long is also very strange, that could be 7 or 8 songs on a regular release. ‘Deathbed’ slows the pace down, but dials up the intent. Almost funeral doom for the first few minutes before a massively incongruous and infectious riff comes in. This lightens the mood a little… well as light as it can be with Kat screaming “Forgive me…on your deathbed” repeatedly. ‘Gnaw’ finishes this first EP in grand style. An eleven minute epic that slowly builds and comes together before falling apart and being pieced back together again.
This always came across as a very interesting idea, and this first instalment has certainly raised the bar for the remaining EPs. The huge departure from their usual sound catches you unaware, but shows the potential for this quartet to accomplish more over the course of these releases than most bands do in an entire career. It’s completely different to anything the band have done before, and this is a band effort, just under Kat’s direction, but it’s got Agoraphobic Nosebleed fingerprints all over it. A gripping set of songs. Now just to wait for the next EP.
