The Drip – The Haunting Fear of Inevitability (Review)

This is the debut album from US grindcore band The Drip.

The band’s 2014 EP A Presentation of Gruesome Poetics was a brief glimpse into the world of The Drip and what they were capable of. I said in the review that the EP bodes well for a future album release and that they were ones to watch. Well, after a longer wait than I would have liked, they have finally produced a full length for me to salivate over.

I love grind that’s modern, uncompromising and utterly savage. The Haunting Fear of Inevitability ticks all of these boxes.

The Drip’s brand of grindcore takes the sleek, savagery of bands like Nasum and Rotten Sound and updates it for the modern day. With elements of crust, d-beat and powerviolence in the mix, this is an album that knows a hundred ways to rip you in half.

There’s a passion and an unexpected freshness here, which is something that sets The Drip apart. Grind is not a new genre, and it’s very easy to just repeat what’s been done before. The Drip manage to avoid sounding stale through sheer force of enthusiasm, energetic delivery and, of course, well-written tracks that know how to use dynamics and pacing effectively.

The latter may sound odd when discussing a grindcore release, but you’ll understand when you listen to the songs on this album; this is far from a one-dimensional blastfest. The band mix things up with different speeds across the music. Always ferocious and nasty, they accomplish this whether they’re blasting as fast as they can go or whether they’re riding a groove straight into the mosh pit.

With a few tracks that are the longest they have ever written, (three songs actually breach the three minute mark), the band don’t limit themselves and give themselves the space to explore their stylish brutality with glee.

On The Haunting Fear of Inevitability The Drip sound raw, focused and nasty. This is definitely the album I was waiting and hoping for, and they’ve actually exceeded my expectations.

Essential for fans of contemporary grinding destruction.