Owlcrusher
Gotta crush something
Record Label: Seeing Red
The magnitude of amplified wrath on display here is almost appalling. No wonder it took Owlcrusher years to put out their debut when every note on this album wants to devour its monstrous predecessor. Not to mention the struggle it must have been devising such a leviathan of volume and emotion. And then, imagine having to learn not only how to wield this abomination, this Owlcrusher, but to become so adept at balancing and swinging this cumbersome colossus as to be able to pull off moments like the middle of “Feeble Preacher.”
It’s worth noting that a rehearsal recording of Owlcrusher’s eponymous destroyer was uploaded to Youtube on Dec. 28, 2010. Besides missing those aphotic growls that, on the record, accompany and ballast guitarist Andrew Spiers’ tortured hawk screams, this earlier version is also four minutes shorter. Proof that Owlcrusher have taken their time with these dirges, allowing them to evolve into the onerous abominations we have on our hands now. After “Owlcrusher” leaves you wrecked and wasted, whatever’s left of you will submit giddily to “Spoiler,” whose first nine minutes zoom right past like a freight train while you’re sitting there, bleeding profusely from both ears. Only after it all collapses in on itself then phoenixes back up will you realize that 10 minutes of the final track have already passed.
But what’s most impressive about Owlcrusher’s debut isn’t its absurd mass, or all the malign nuances within that reveal themselves through repeated listens. What’s most impressive is how addictive it is, this abject punishment they call Owlcrusher.
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