It’s satisfying to see bands form with weighted names commandeer their music into territory far more than just a side project. All Pigs Must Die have always done this by enforcing the most pissed off, bile-spitting sound in their strain of d-beat hardcore. The Massachusetts-based band features hardcore and metal stalwarts such as Ben Koller (Converge, Mutoid Man) and Kevin Baker (The Hope Conspiracy). With each release, especially 2013’s Nothing Violates This Nature, APMD have always managed to find that sweet spot with heaviness and consistent song writing – making them a go-to for an audible bludgeoning. However, Hostage Animal is a totally refreshing and refined punch in the jaw, and it may well position itself as the band’s best thus far.
It’s astounding how defined each track is on this album; each one carries its own weight and for a variety of reasons. The signature metallic assault that the band has honed since their self-titled EP is still at the forefront, with the two opening tracks ‘Hostage Animal’ and ‘Caustic Vision’ providing the largest consecutive gutting on the whole record. The former features some of the most addictive riffs in their catalogue and the latter’s break down is guaranteed to snap your neck.
It’s not long before the record slows to an almost bluesy pace with ‘Slave Morality’; an icy and dissonant track that shows how Hostage Animal is their most diverse project yet. A soaring guitar solo looks down on the filthy instrumentation below, before rounding off into ‘End Without End’. Another slow-burner of a track, the repeated and harrowing lead guitar riff is backed with thick, sludgy bass and drums, building up to a lone guitar melody akin to Black Album-era Metallica.
The total hopelessness of moments like this are constantly enhanced by Baker’s intense vocal delivery; it’s the most raw and violent they’ve ever been, especially on tracks like ‘Moral Purge’. Every ingredient to APMD’s sound feels so much more potent, meaning the tracks can stab so much deeper. Hostage Animal is the perfect expansion on APMD’s sound that it not only retains their position as experts in their field among the likes of Cult Leader, Trap Them and Black Breath, but also as more than a sum of their parts. The band have defined themselves beyond the unrelenting heaviness to reveal they can deliver in full force, but also flush out tracks with brilliantly executed misery. This may be my favourite album of theirs thus far, which only leaves the band’s future to eagerly wait for.
