Capitalizing on the awesome attack of 2013's debut album Bushcraft, oppressive Vancouver crust-and-hardcore quartet likewise annihilate on their sophomore atom bomb, Bloodmines. Opener "Chamber" is a mildly ambient piece of feedback and senses-blurring white noise, but the outfit pretty well go for the throat from then on, whether letting loose high-speed charges like "Wanting" and "String Up" or delivering gloomy, explosive trudges like "Vistas."
While a Converge influence can still be detected, with the Massachusetts-based legends' Kurt Ballou sitting behind the boards and even adding a haunting one-note bend to the mid-section of the relentless and blistering "Harm Induction," Baptists' devotion to blunt force steers them into a more straightforward direction than their metalcore heroes. Likewise, the growls of vocalist Andrew Drury come through a little more focused than in the past. He takes no prisoners while launching threats to bigoted politicians on "String Up," or critiquing a failing childcare system on "For Profit." The title track, a detuned doom-blues cut, even switches up Drury's vocal approach by almost tunefully delivering a couple of strangled cries.
Between the vicious and visceral six-stringing of Danny Marshall and the focused but fierce beats of otherworldly drum guru Nick Yacyshyn, the band's most overtly political album is likewise its most punishing, making for a confident next step for the Canadian crushers.
Read our recent interview with Baptists here.
(Southern Lord)While a Converge influence can still be detected, with the Massachusetts-based legends' Kurt Ballou sitting behind the boards and even adding a haunting one-note bend to the mid-section of the relentless and blistering "Harm Induction," Baptists' devotion to blunt force steers them into a more straightforward direction than their metalcore heroes. Likewise, the growls of vocalist Andrew Drury come through a little more focused than in the past. He takes no prisoners while launching threats to bigoted politicians on "String Up," or critiquing a failing childcare system on "For Profit." The title track, a detuned doom-blues cut, even switches up Drury's vocal approach by almost tunefully delivering a couple of strangled cries.
Between the vicious and visceral six-stringing of Danny Marshall and the focused but fierce beats of otherworldly drum guru Nick Yacyshyn, the band's most overtly political album is likewise its most punishing, making for a confident next step for the Canadian crushers.
Read our recent interview with Baptists here.
