I recently switched gyms. Benefits of the new place include more machines that are better maintained, nicer areas for resting, nicer showers and a greater variety of training equipment. Taking my fitness more seriously now, it has proven a good choice. The one, admittedly colossal, detriment of this new gym is the general soundscape I find myself in. Some gyms have a real issue with how loudly they play the mediocre EDM that is supposed to get my blood pumping. Four on the Floor kicks chase me in every room, piercing through my headphones unless I set them to a loudness that will certainly damage my already questionable hearing. In desperation, I browsed bandcamp the other day, trying to find something that could overpower the EDM I was supposed to endure. For the real amount of gains, I need something loud, bassy. Something with a lack of nuance and constant aggressive dynamics. Oh, and it must be good, too. Of all the examples on the bandcamp frontpage for metal, only one release delivered. And that release was Landfilth.
Landfilth‘s Control EP is a little over 12 minutes long and sits in the middle of a venn diagram between death metal, sludge and powerviolence. This is not music to ponder life to, this is music to get you pumped, angry and into a groove. The instruments serve up mid-paced, low tuned grooves that will lower your IQ while growing your superior trapezius through extended headbanging. While the EP is not particularly nuanced, there is enough variety to vocals and instrumental approach that the EP has no chance of getting boring — Landfilth transport some amount of live energy into this little EP, and it sounds exactly as nasty and barbaric as it has to. There are not many problems with the record, but I will say that I am worried about how all of this would play out on a full-length record. As the album slows down and chugs become the bands main mode of assault, the simplicity becomes a bit more apparent. Again, not an issue in EP length, but this band will actually have to look for new aspects to explore if they choose to make a full-length. What we have here I will recommend to any metalhead interested in improving his gains, however.
