All Pigs Must Die // Nothing Violates This Nature
Rating: 2.5/5.0 — Well, at least the album title makes sense.
Label: Southern Lord
Websites: Facebook.com/apmdband | Myspace.com/allpigsmustdie
Release Dates: Out Now!
I suppose incorporating sludge and black metal into hardcore punk is the logical way to bring it to even more intense heights, all the while making it delectably filthy to those who like their metal abrasive, raw and covered in grit. Of all the bands to catch wind of this style, All Pigs Must Die have been in the forefront with a couple of really great releases under their belt – their short and sweet self-titled EP along with their more ambitious and equally impressive debut album, God is War. Both releases are absolutely furious, pummeling you with the huge, fast riffs reminiscent of grindcore and hardcore punk in one of the most in-your-face and take-no-prisoners approaches in recent memory.
Nothing Violates This Nature is the continuation that one would expect from All Pigs Must Die. It’s louder, it’s more in your face and attempts to be heavier. It’s even a bit more melodic in places which adds to the catchiness factor quite a bit, especially in the lead guitar department, a welcome addition considering it’s something that God is War touched on. But looking past that…
Okay, first thing’s first – increasing the gain on your final mix doesn’t make for a heavier album. It just makes it more headache inducing, which is a good way to describe the production of this album – tinny, brickwalled with a lack of depth. When you consider their past output having such great production, their EP especially, it makes you wonder what happened with this one. It shouldn’t make as big a difference as it does considering the nature of this music, but whenever I listen to this album I simply want to go back to their EP which sounds much ‘heavier’ in that everything had a satisfying depth to it.
But the meat of the album is its compositions and Nothing Violates This Nature is pretty hit and miss as far as I’m concerned. When it hits, it hits hard, at least. Tracks like “Primitive Fear” and “Chaos Arise” having great riffs and satisfying progressions galore, making them some of the best tracks on display – the issues with production not enough to dampen the soul of these tracks; fury and filth. This album also has a handful of tracks that take quite a lot from doom metal too, “Of Suffering” and “Faith Eater” going at a slow, yet furious and cryptic race to the finish, letting the riffs speak for themselves. For the most part it works great, but the problem with this record lies in just about every other track on this album.
They’re just not interesting or consist of sentiments that have been said countless times before and better. It really reminds me of Abandon All Life by Nails, but Abandon All Life doesn’t suffer from the same downfalls because it’s half the length, has great production and overall sounds more interesting. Nothing Violates This Nature is far from long, but when you go to all these extremes to make it sound more in your face and abrasive, half an hour suddenly feels like an hour.
I really feel like I’m not being fair to Nothing Violates This Nature, but I can’t help but find their past works and works by other, similar bands so much more interesting and rewarding. All Pigs Must Die try to play to even further extremes and I think it’s the biggest downfall because none of it was necessary. The performances on this album are great and that may keep me coming back, and a few tracks here are definitely worth hearing again but the album as a whole just doesn’t add up to their past works or the work of their peers.
