From the get-go, Primitive Man thrusts the listener into the black mire known as Scorn. This re-release on Relapse Records is a damningly heavy release, full of wretchedness; a wide spread of monolithic riffs and sludge induced tones. There is no sunlight where this album goes: it only keeps going down further into the dark.
With an eleven minute opener, the title track is full of noise and these gigantic one note riffs that clang away like a chisel into stone. Feedback overcasts the track, and what rises out of the ashes is something completely wicked and menacing. It is a crawl that seems to last forever, digging its nails in deep and ripping at the earth. Foreboding isn’t even applicable, here: these riffs are massively huge and command attention with its icy grip. The track eventually picks up momentarily as this deep, crushing bass lays down some fierce ripping.
‘Rags’ is much of the same; another punishingly heavy track that follows a strict line of heaviness. Ethan Lee McCarthy’s vocals are bellowing, demonic growls that pierce the music. Falling in line with the thick bass, these vocals are inhuman; matter-of-fact growls that showcase how evil, twisted, and full of fear the music actually is. The two noise tracks, ‘I Can’t Forget’ and ‘Black Smoke’ aren’t exactly placed as filler. They are there with a purpose; this wretched, demonic environment Primitive Man spewed forth needs more moments without the harshness. That isn’t to say these noise tracks aren’t harsh. They are something wicked and fierce, and contain much more structure than typical noise endeavors.
‘Stretched Thin’ combines elements of the sludge and doom sound Primitive Man washes Scorn over with, while adding an extra boost of this crust sound. Faster paced than all the other tracks, the band settles into this groove, punching out tight riffs with the same Godstomper-esque deep bass. ‘Stretched Thin’ is a true headbanger, and its a nice change of pace from all the slow-moving, sometimes stoic sound on previous tracks.
Primitive Man have set their sights on the excruciatingly slow sludge sound and exceed all expectations on that front. Scorn is an album that punches as hard as it can with extremely dark, bone-chilling riffs and quite possibly the heaviest bass sound. The album suffocates and crunches its way towards the finish line, seemingly driven by pure, unrelenting force. Scorn is the definition of the word “dread”; a completely destructive and intensely heavy release by a band pushing the boundaries on what it means to be heavy. Abandon all hope.
8/10
Bill Haff