MASTIFF

Plague

APF Hull sludge barbarians pile on the exhilarating agony

Mastiff’s debut full-length builds on their sludge-bynumbers EPS and gets even filthier. Similar to Conjurer’s Mire last year,

Plague swirls sludge in a pot of grindcore, death metal, hardcore and even dribbles of post-rock. Quarantine’s riff could have been pulled straight from Crowbar’s playbook, while Bubonic’s contender for Gang Vocal Of 2019 (it’s ‘EAT SHIT AND

DIE!’, if you’re curious) is a flash of hardcore euphoria piggy-backing pure grind blastbeatery. Plague balances groove and extremity on a wire, every Southern lick rugby tackled by a breakdown, Jim Hodge’s growled vocals reminiscent of David Vincent down Wetherspoons. By the time

Black Death closes the album it’s almost too much – a Cult Of Luna-meets-down, nine-minute endurance test. But it’s worth it.

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FOR FANS OF: Conjurer, Napalm Death, Nails