The Body - Master, We Perish
At A Loss Recordings
Noise Doom
3 songs (18:01)
Release year: 2013
At A Loss Recordings
Reviewed by Koeppe

After the outstanding All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood, I have been incredibly curious as to what The Body had left to offer; with that album, they threw everything but the kitchen sink at the listener. I didn’t give their full-length collaboration with Braveyoung much listen, but with this EP and last year’s 5 songs, the dynamic duo hasn’t been silent. The question posed to the listener at the onset of playing any one of their albums is “what sounds, as in what non-instrument related noise, will I be hearing on this album?”

The album opens with an air raid siren, (not) preparing and warning the listener of what is to come. Overlapping with the siren is a swirling maelstrom of a riff that seems a call from tech-death noise extraordinaire Portal’s playbook. Vocals are piercing screams that seem most comparable to the infamous vocals of Silencer minus the “sounds like a dying cat” ridiculousness. Equally strained and high-pitch with all the anguish and pain present in such a comparison. The track closes with cymbal crashes, echoed by an industrial beat that sounds like a machinery press or hammer coming down at an assembly line’s pace.

The Blessed Lay Down and Writhe in Agony: opening with somber chords, recorded voices, the female choir, static-y percussions reminiscent of Author and Punisher’s rhythm controller/gun cocking, male screams, Sunn 0)))-like heavy chords and traditional drone feedback. The sound of a shotgun being loaded comes through midway, and from there the song rides the reverb of guitar chords. The second half of the track is accented by a simple drumbeat that trails off to the end, punctuated by one last furious clatter of the drums and the intensity of the screams.

The body under question in their moniker is your body, the listener; your body being challenged by the sirens or the piercing, blood-curdling screams of vocalist Chip King. Your body being tied to the stake as Worship closes with a ritualistic drumbeat prior to your immolation. Imagine that scene from Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom, but with true crime samples faintly heard in the background as dissonant feedback and screams cut in and out as the beat becomes ever more hypnotic. The feedback becomes more acute. 66% of the way through the tracks and the big doomy riffs hit; the screams come to the fore, only to return back to the drone after a minute of anguish.

The Body stands alongside bands such as Thou, Dragged into Sunlight, even Noothgrush in terms of creating dense, sludgy drone that straddles the line between noise and traditional doom metal, utilizing enough of a traditional structure to keep them in the (post-)metal range on most releases. Alas, at less than twenty minutes, this EP is enjoyable, but with not enough space to truly let the guys spread their wings and do something truly unique or outstanding, unlike with their full-lengths. If you haven’t given these guys a listen before, I would really suggest All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood before tracking this down. That release truly shows them at their finest, while this EP might result in a hasty dismissal, if not given a proper chance.

Killing Songs :
The Blessed Lay Down and Writhe in Agony
Koeppe quoted no quote
Other albums by The Body that we have reviewed:
The Body - All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood reviewed by Alex and quoted 70 / 100
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