PUPIL SLICER – BLOSSOM
LABEL: Prosthetic Records
RELEASE: June 2nd, 2023
AUTHOR: Matthew McCune
01. Glaring Dark Of Night
02. Momentary Actuality
03. Departure In Solitude
04. Creating The Devil In Our Image
05. The Song At Creation’s End
06. No Temple
07. Terminal Lucidity
08. Language Of The Stars
09. Dim Morning Light
10. Blossom
When perusing new albums to expanding one’s eclectic and vast heavy metal library, one inevitably will come across the elusive and often isolating subgenre of “mathcore”. Being the most esoteric and intimidating of the extreme metal varieties, mathcore can be rather somewhat difficult to enjoy to the casual listener, and it often presents itself in a way that, in more cases than a few, can feel like a chore. But sometimes a band releases a mathcore album that is not only accessible but also technically proficient and a joy to listen to. If you’re someone who wants to dip your toes into the most academic corner of metal without feeling you are re-taking your high school calculus final, you should definitely check out the UK-based PUPIL SLICER’s new album “Blossom“.
Starting our descent with “Glaring Dark Of Night“, listeners are given a nice and smooth, yet foreboding introduction before their baptism through hellfire, “Momentary Actuality“. Vocalist and guitarist Kate Davies rips into our ears with their brutal, beatdown vocals and rhymical precision. Piercing and somehow comforting at the same time, the pinches of the guitar layer over the haunting chorus and regimented kick drums, creating a cacophony of brutality that invites us to more killer tracks.
“Departure In Solitude“ and “Creating The Devil In Our Image“ both delve into the more hardcore and metalcore influences that the band wear on their sleeve. The precision of drummer Josh Andrews shines on the former track as the chaotic energy of the melodic instruments make us feel like we are going off the tracks, but Andrews’ rhythmic integrity brings it back to reality.
Standout track “The Song At Creation’s End“ offers a great cocktail of what any mathcore fan craves. Differentiation between chaos and beauty are plentiful here as every instrument fit into a perfect puzzle of a song that disperses and reconvenes multiple times throughout the gargantuan eight-minute runtime.
Tracks such as “No Temple“ offer an industrial flare while it is perfectly contrasted with brief trance-like state and hardcore punk tinged feast that is “Terminal Lucidity“ and the brief break from the action in “Language Of The Stars“.
The penultimate track “Dim Morning Light” gives us the most atmospheric experience of the whole album, with a wall of sound consistently being present throughout the track, knocking our socks off before we are brought to the epic finale “Blossom“, which perfectly ties the albums thematic and sonic elements together like a thesis of rawness and brutality.
Let’s be frank here, this album rules. I would highly suggest to anyone who wants to give mathcore a try or is just looking for something that is easily set apart from the pack. Hopefully nothing but great things are ahead for PUPIL SLICER.
WEBSITE: https://pupilslicer.com
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pupilslicer
BANDCAMP: https://pupilslicer.bandcamp.com/album/blossom