Disclaimer time again.
Coming into this review I wasn’t familiar with Meatwound’s body of work. So yeah, I write for a music magazine and I’m not versed in all of the current bands. Leave your pitchforks and angry tweets at the door, please. Anyways, unsure of what to expect, I cranked Meatwound’s sophomore release, Largo (Magic Bullet) on my Bluetooth speaker and well, I was surprised. Surprised in the pleasantly sort of way.
Since the internet files Meatwound under post-metal, I immediately noticed that hardly any of the songs on Largo strays past five minutes. Hell, at a scant 27 minutes and some change, Largo is a runaway truck that concusses you before you get a chance to notice its license plate number. Most industrial or post-metal EPs usually run longer than half an hour. I also felt that there’s no air of self-importance or overarching themes to be found on Largo, either.
Also helping Meatwound distinguish itself from the current post-metal wave is that they’re willing to experiment with very odd tempos. ‘Séance’ and ‘Reproduction Blues’ both dance between the lines of mid-tempo bashing to blasts of reckless punk speed. And from the mostly instrumental first half of ‘Fleshtag’ we also take a glimpse into Meatwound’s appreciation for jazz and the noisy musical stylings of vintage Helmet.
And as a lifetime devotee of low-end sounds, it’s much appreciated to have another band that doesn’t bury their bassist under layers of studio manipulation. Bassist Mariano is given as much room to roam around in as guitarist Ari in tracks like ‘The Killer, The Princess, and the King’ and ‘Pigs.’
I am more than pleasantly surprised by what I found on Meatwound’s Largo. In terms of making what appears to be hellish racket sound palatable and catchy, Meatwound brings Botch’s catalog to mind. Not a bad place to be.
8.0/10
HANSEL LOPEZ