Clubbed awake by relentless klaxons signaling an endtyme level spree for war-crimes as ruthless cruelty intensifies worldwide the martial skulls which drive Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based death metal quintet PIG’S BLOOD into action are revived but unbent in enacting this third-world war apropos third unholy offensive. Echoing the evolution of the band’s hybridization of bestial black/death metal and pure death metal groove ‘Destroying the Spirit‘ contends with oversaturation of the war metal mind via consistently cutting wild-ass tracks and enduring where so many falter: The theatre of the riff. In this way they’ve lived up to the potential shown on their well-received previous album with a record that goes a bit harder, does more with its sulphur-yanked sound and avoids falling off into chaotic, senseless void in the process.

The foundation and prior resume shared by the three founding members of Pig’s Blood includes Halo of Flies-linked hardcore punk/neocrust, extremist black metal and thrashing grindcore of various build. All of that frantic energy would inform their synchronization back in the mid-2010’s as they’d cranked a fairly substantial demo (‘Command More Blood‘, 2015) featuring most every trait which defines them ten years later. Rot-clogged dual vocals, early blackened death mayhem and a punkish throttle suited that era of Revenge and Proclamation inspired interest in bestial death/war metal and these guys were I guess different from the Profane Order and Abysmal Lord I was probably listening to at the time. Their whippin’ and snarling flurry created as a trio would become more rooted in aspects of pure death metal by the time their debut LP (‘Pig’s Blood‘, 2017) hit and their lineup expanded. This has been the trend of their work with each successive album incorporating more hard-cut structure and less bluster, bestial death metal ‘tude and fracas but with a decent pure death metal-stoked riff count backing it.

An inspired level of ‘old school’ informed verve convinced me to check out and review Pig’s Blood‘s second LP (‘A Flock Slaughtered‘) back in 2019 and I think at that point I was fully convinced of their momentum compared to many similar troupes at the time. I’d written at the time that the band had moved away from repetition via 90’s death metal muse and that the result was “a brutally heavy tank of an album that is never obscured by rawness.” comparing the change to what Embrace of Thorns had done between ‘Atonement Ritual’ and ‘Praying for Absolution’ where they’d chosen impact rather than the churl’s chaos. Wherever you end up going with this new album I’d suggest folks grab the previous one, too. It was revered in some circles at the time but fairly underrated amongst the blur that was 2019.

Life-altering years beyond, minds blitzed by techno-apocalyptic savagery abounding, over seven years in the chambers of dis and… Pig’s Blood rise from the congealed slurry of sickness and doom for an album which compares pretty squarely with the ideal introduced via ‘A Flock Slaughtered‘. They’ve got that groaty, thrashing sort of Order From Chaos thing nipping at their heels (re: title track) and appear even more engaged in the wrath of early days United States black/death trample but in most every case the standard set behind their name is either upheld or expanded herein. Opener “Standing in Depravity” not only resembles this but the band stay that level of attack throughout the entire album.

If we can cut right to the marrow here the entertainment value afforded any album in this style with a shit boils down to wielding nuclear riffcraft within an immersive, ideally unique sound. Pig’s Blood have always been above-average under these guidelines though they don’t rely upon chaotic speed to define their hybrid strain. We do get some manner of blasting rattle into standout “Tartarean Infection” to start and later on (my favorite piece on the album) “Aftermath” manages a death-thrashing n’ grinding sort of mania but most of these songs keep their head down and chug away at performances fixated on their rhythmic thread beyond all else. There isn’t a ton of adornment or interruption to that modus here at all, as was the case with the band’s previous album you’re either thrilled by the descent down the tunnel provided or you’re dragged along unwilling.

“Rabid Dogs” was in my experience the point of no return on the way through the heady muck of their efforts here, the point where the tunnel vision created began to dissolve the senses and entrench the mind. Beyond that point Side B offers at least one surprise via the the spike of black metal informed melodic whirr that kicks off the opening riff of “Satanic Hammer of Justice”, a brief hit of something slightly different from Pig’s Blood which breaks out of their chamber-bound roar and features a bopping fat-ass death metal groove as its main feature. Although “Commitment to Death” also touches upon that sound briefly I’d have liked to hear more of their black metal coded riffs in the future, more of the frenetic stuff found on “Aftermath” too.

By the time this relatively brief ~33 minute record hits its last three songs it doesn’t so much drag as it refuses to relent, or, pause and pivot its interest at all. That is less a complaint than it is a reiteration of expectations set per the band’s general style. I’d appreciated the rally into “Ravenous Hellslaught” and its effects clogged vocal delivery but closer “Strikeforce of Isolate Will” is the clincher, the one to pinch off the tail-end and close on an fatal note, though the slap through the song failed to catch my attention after repeated listens; There is a great pocket of interest nearby the middle of ‘Destroying the Spirit‘ and the endpoint offers reasonable closure but Pig’s Blood‘s most engaging ideas are generally set up front.

If you were already a fan of Pig’s Blood and their more structured, clobber-readied take on bestial blackened death metal ‘Destroying the Spirit‘ is less an evolutionary event than it is an inspired reiteration of principles. On the flipside any stoked newcomers to their gig would likely be stoked to find such consistency upheld throughout their discography, marking this third album as a fitting third strike toward their own signature harass. Their muddied, unbroken attack is the major appeal here beyond their interest in cutting many riffs and that should be enough to stoke anyone interested in unhinged death metal outright. A moderately high recommendation.

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