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Newcastle’s Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs’ third studio album, Viscerals, is a cutting, vicious LP with brave experimental sounds. Brought to you by a band that, for the last seven years, have continually pushed the boundaries of metal and noise rock, Viscerals captures an industrial, riff-heavy sound with huge headbanging potential.

Recent releases ‘Reducer’ and ‘Rubbernecker' kick-off things with a strong start. In particular, the first track has this intoxicating chaotic energy about it, with absolute catharsis. It asserts a clear message that "ego kills everything". Guitars clash and tug from every corner, delivering a punchy first song. What follows is the oddly melodic ‘Rubbernecker’, with driving guitars and, about three quarters of the way through, a breather, culminating in a propulsive conclusion. Singing, “I don’t feel a thing”, ‘New Body’ is a resilient track, prime for a feature film score, and Pigsx7 masterfully showcase their musicianship with disorderly riffs and frenetic rhythms.

‘Blood and Butter’ is an almost poetic monologue set to disjointed percussion. It ends the first half of the album, and what follows is a slightly different turn from the first three tracks, with ‘World Crust’ featuring far louder vocals from Matt Baty. Thematically, the same driving guitars and instrumental breaks are present, but there’s more emphasis on melody in later tracks, especially 'Crazy in Blood’, which almost has a Sabbathian feel.

‘Halloween Bolson’ is pretty much faultless. A nine minute, stormy cut that shares the same cinematic feel of earlier Viscerals track ‘New Body’, but, in terms of composition, stands entirely on its own. It’s seamlessly followed by screams that “talk is cheap” on ‘Hell’s Teeth’, a cut that’s slightly less modern than the rest of the record, and thematically, closer to the earlier metal of the 1970s and 80s.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes to this gigantic album. God knows what Pigsx7 are actually singing about. On some of their tracks, the lyrics are basically indiscernible, but who really cares when they sound so brilliant against an expert backdrop of heavy noise rock. Viscerals is going to be an incredible record to hear live, and is equally as impactful in its own right.

Viscerals is released on 3 April 2020 via Rocket Recordings.

More about: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs