Pig Destroyer
Painter of Dead Girls

THE REVIEW

Terrorcore, this is what Pig Destroyer sounds like.

And indeed, with such a name (in the USA "pig" is slang for cops, in addition to pigs) and with such a powerful, frightening, and terroristic musical approach, it couldn’t be otherwise.

The reference genre of the trio (drums/guitar/vocals) is, if it wasn’t clear, grindcore rooted in Napalm Death. However, this compilation, which gathers material from the band’s early years (formed in '97), showcases an interesting sonic syncretism of various currents within the most brutal and terrifying metal scene: flashes of death metal, restarts with a distinctly thrash flavor, furious riffing, and frantic drumming with (dis?)pleasing noise effects, power, and groove drawn from the most sickening stoner/sludge; all executed with notable technical skill which, however, never becomes the band’s fundamental element, instead self-appointing as the structure and backbone to advance their most brutal musical-terroristic discourse.

What might not be liked in this compilation is the somewhat inconsistent quality of the recordings, which, while generally functional and never too low, could give an impression of "taking-something-from-here-and-there". It might, I said, since, in my opinion, the qualitative ups and downs are both a measure to distinguish the older tracks from the more recent ones, as well as something necessary to highlight the evolution of this band which, even within the non-limits of a strong and chaotic (and often monotonous) genre like grindcore, manages to stand out for its technical quality, compositional clarity, and sonic effectiveness.

Moreover, there's recent news of the inclusion of a fourth member in the band's line-up, Blake Harrison, on samples/noises. We will see how these sonic terrorists manage to continue.