Shroud Eater

While their debut full-length, 2011's Thundernoise, gestured towards a promising depth and intelligence of composition, it's five-song EP Dead Ends that truly makes good on Miami sludge-slingers Shroud Eater's promises. A viscous, plunging record full of unexpected surges and explosions, Dead Ends has a particularly finely hewn ability to startle. "Lord of the Sword" has a regal sense of churning doom, offset by the impudent vocals and occasional guitar histrionics that ring out clear from the buzz like a tolling bell. "Sudden Plague" has surprising forward momentum, seemingly always on the verge of teetering out of control — it's lumber always threatening to break into a crushing stampede. "Tempest" is the highest energy track, the tone still fat and acridly smoky, sliced up by moments of incandescent precision.