Reviews
The big review: Damnation Festival 2024
What happened when Nails, Gatecreeper, Cradle Of Filth and a ton more brought the noise to Manchester for the biggest Damnation Festival yet.
The new album by Seattle math-grind duo Pound is utterly insane, deeply satisfying.
Usually, a band with a huge sound and fewer than four members is surprising in its ability to blow out eardrums, but with Seattle's Pound, it makes an awesome sort of sense. The band's groaning, kinetic music, which is a bizarre but deeply satisfying mix of grind, sludge, mathcore, d-beat, and groove metal, is complicated and can be hard to track. But it also has an earthy, primal simplicity that makes the fact that its created by only two dudes totally appropriate. As such, the duo -- guitarist Ryan Schutte and drummer Dave Stickney -- are a force to be reckoned with, creating throbbing, double-jointed music that also feels caveman-level heavy. Fans catching them on their solo opening spot during the Auburn, Washington, stop on Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson's upcoming U.S. tour should get ready for pure madness.
The band's new album exudes this vibe right down to its title, which is just two dots (••). Recorded, mixed, and mastered by veteran extreme metal producer Dave Otero (known for his work with Khemmis, Cobalt, and Cattle Decapitation) at his own Flatline Audio studios, the record is a burly, off-kilter slab that will make listeners raise both their eyebrows and fists. That the songs thereon feature Ryan playing a nine-string baritone guitar and Dave using two drum kits positioned at a ninety-degree angle (yeah, dude) seems perfectly reasonable, given the album's wonky yet crushing nature.
Listen to Pound's mind-blowing new album •• below:
Check out its terrifying but awesome cover right here:
Pound's •• comes out this Friday, May 31st, on Silent Pendulum Records, and is available for preorder.
Make sure to gawk at the band at one of the following live dates:
May 2019
30 - Seattle, WA @ Northwest Terror Fest
July 2019
12 - Armstrong, BC @ Armstrong Metal Fest
August 2019
3 - Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre (w/ Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson)
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