Labels: Mordgrimm – Throatruiner
Review by: Alex Deller
If, like me, the word ‘heinous’ isn’t necessarily a negative descriptor when it comes to heavy metal then you’re in for a treat with this one, the debut full-length from Colorado-born brutalists Primitive Man. Vast, ugly and possessed of a real physical presence, this is cavernous ultra-sludge of the highest possible order. Hideously atonal lumps of RIFF are dragged slowly from one dark point to the next, shrouded in the sickening burble of troubled electronics and desperate, parched vocals that sound as though lungs are being shaken loose to make them. While things occasionally grind a few notches faster, the general pace is one of miserable, life-hating sloth, each beat hammered out with grim finality and a nod to looming overlords like Burning Witch, Moss and maybe even Man Is The Bastard. The band succeeds marvellously where so many others who’ve been playing the game far longer (see: Monarch, Trees, Thou) do not, making for something that’s not just immensely heavy but also an utter pleasure to be punished by.