Scour is a weird animal. Mixing a variety of genres yet grounded in none of them, Phil Anselmo’s band of brothers take Metal, Grindcore, Black Metal, and more and fuse it into this unstoppable, indefinable force. On their newest release, and final part of the trilogy preceded by The Grey and The Red EP’s, they channel that energy into six unrelenting bursts of unforgettable Metal mayhem.
“Doom” is just insane and just three minutes of straight up Metal fury that is brutal beyond belief and uncompromising for its’ entire short lifespan. A perfect reintroduction to Scour amidst air raid sirens, Atlanteans (Jason Momoa!), and All-Stars (Hate Eternal’s Eric Rutan!), “Doom” relishes in the power brought forth by drummer Adam Jarvis and an onslaught of guitars from Derek Engemann and Mark Kloeppel.
“Nail” is Black Metal/Grindcore mayhem with some truly macabre sounds as Anselmo solemnly repeats “A nail in the coffin of euphoria” over and over to close the track out while “Propaganda” is one of those tracks where longtime Anselmo listeners will find themselves checking the credits to make sure that their favorite vocalist is the same one that’s making these ungodly, guttural growls throughout.
And later, “Flames” almost settles into a laid back groove where John Jarvis’ bass sounds are driven home like a hypnotic hum in between bouts of Adam Jarvis’ frenetic propulsive pace and Kloeppel and Engemann’s unearthly shreds.
“Microbes” ups the evil ante with a sinister piano line and string accompaniment that could’ve been pulled from Anselmo’s latest release with En Minor (Read our review of that record here) but then the floodgates once again open and it’s anything goes on “Subprime” which concludes The Black EP with some majestic Metal at its’ finest.
The Black EP releases through Housecore Records on November 27th. Pre-orders are live now and can be checked out by heading here, here, and here for International orders. For the latest on Scour, follow them across the information superhighway by clicking here, here, or here.