Blockthesun are an Australian grindcore band, and this is their debut EP.
There’s 10 minutes of nastiness here, with 40% of the playing time taken up by the closer Freedom Is Slavery.
This is snarling, feral grind, with a blackened twist and a soft spot for a good riff. The vocals consist of serrated screams, cutting into your mind as the music batters and bruises. There’s more here than just aggression, however.
Apart from the last track, each song is short and sharp, but makes good use of its running time. Every track nicely differentiates itself from its neighbours and Blockthesun offer a few different moods, ideas, and paces, (relatively speaking), across this brief release.
The band have a good grasp of dynamics, and they’re not above using a bit of melody either, which is not something that’s common to this sort of group. It’s great to hear extreme music like this that recognises the need for a bit of variety and atmosphere in its compositions, while still essentially keeping things raw and nasty. The songwriting on this EP is top notch.
Black metal and some minor thrash elements can be heard, but these are only the icing on a surprisingly sophisticated punk/grind cake. Blockthesun know how to create enjoyably infectious grindcore that tastes damn good.
When you get to the final and longest song, the band demonstrate another string to their bow with an atmospheric, post-metal piece that displays a versatility most grind bands lack.
Very nice.
Blockthesun have impressed with this release. It may only be their first one, but it seems they’re already quite a well-developed band with a strong identity of their own.
Very highly recommended.
