In a world full of two-faced people, misleading information and strings attached to practically everything, Goregrind is the breath of fresh air society needs. Simply put: what you see is what you get.

And what you see plastered all over the cover of Horse Butcher’s self-titled debut EP is…Goregrind.

The viscera and nearly unidentifiable slop of NSFW machinations is the perfect precursor of what Horse Butcher is all about. This EP is a six-pack of sadism, a deluge of human detritus. 

Most haunting of all is the gut-churning sound of some unlucky soul submerged in a fluid (“Pathogenic Attenuation”) that most certainly isn’t a hot tub in Vegas. Its viscous nature alongside breathing breeds imagery that is better suited for a masochistic-inspired fan fic. Even the wailing guitars are capable of inducing vertigo.

“Compressed Cylinder Of Brain Matter” is realizing your darkest, most paralytic nightmare is actually real life. It’s that split-second of dread upon waking up to find yourself ensconced in unimaginable duress.

The murky-ass vocal production is reminiscent of an industrial vacuum, which in this case is most certainly not sucking up crumbs or dust, but more likely traces of excrement and fileted organs.

The drums featured on “Paraphilic Dystocia” have seemingly been recorded underneath a canopy of weighted blankets (or decomposed corpses). There is a palpable haze of nuclear fallout, and the stop-and-go elements breed paranoia. Girthy chugs are also snuck in to make the freaks (me) smile proudly.

It’s hard to imagine Horse Butcher cobbling together this EP anywhere other than in a sewage pit below the streets of central Europe in the 1340s as plague-ridden bodies are haphazardly added to the sickly sludge. 

And yet somehow, as is Goregrind’s want, the result is a mini-album that hits the nail on the head, both figuratively and musically. Horse Butcher really made chicken (equine?) salad out of chicken shit.

Buy the album here:
https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/horse-butcher

8 / 10
MATT COOK
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