Drugs of Faith

One of extreme music's most evasive yet respected bands, Drugs of Faith, are back with their first material since 2011's Corroded, and this EP is a great example of what Richard "the Grindfather" Johnson is capable of. Like an all-human agoraphobic nosebleed, Architectural Failures grinds, spits and sputters, but without the usual maniacal blasting and more of a power-violence approach in its place. "Insanity" brings some noise-rock to the party, while "Paper Trails" almost gets all spaghetti-western acoustic in the midsection; it would sound weird if it wasn't delivered with such sincerity. Closer "Placing Bets" is the most grindcore of the four songs found here, but it's anything but conventional and ends up sounding more punk than grind. They sound and behave like no one else in the extreme scene (just look at the EP's cover art/title), and yeah, they'll probably vanish for three years after releasing this EP, but that's just fine; it's all part of the awesome Drugs of Faith charm.