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I’ll take my grind any which way, as long as it destroys.  Bands like Cephalic Carnage, Gronibard, Leng T’che, and Fuck The Facts who tweak and tamper with the original recipe are just fine by me.  Bands like Insect Warfare and Gadget who strictly go for the jugular in the more traditional sense are always  equally appreciated.  Pigsty are a group of polish instrument abusers who add swine jizz to the formula in several convincing ways.

Their vocal approach, which is the first element that stands out,  incorporates healthy doses of yelling the hardcore way.  Usually this would be a problem for me when it comes to grind vocals.  Pigsty pull it off effortlessly.  One track entitled “It’s Too Easy” certainly rings true for their absolute decimation through ten tracks.  There are pissed screams and gutteral growls, but the hardcore vocals are dominant.  Also, it sounds and appears as though the entire group add to the vocal mix.  Their primary vocalist does not play any instruments live that I have seen from their exstensive live shots.  The other thing that these guys do to fuck with grind’s boundaries is to throw in moments of effect-laden guitars, one guitar and one bass, to change up the grind dynamic.  “Demon Alcohol” is a brilliant example of this.  In the midst of geothermal grinding they break into a cleaned up chorusy, reverbed, slightly phasered moment only the trippiest hippie could dream up.  It is nothing to do with the plight of Georgian metal, it is absolutely killer.  This interlude comes in throughout the song and never gets old.  Although this is the most pronounced moment of “fun with effect pedals”, the album has just enough of this sonic fuckery to keep the album fresh without becoming schticky.

At the heart of Pigsty’s The Planet Of The Pigs lies some of the catchiest and fun, yes fun, grinding and song writing I’ve heard from anything steeped in grind for years.  They really have developed a unique sound in this world of plastic clones. How refreshing is that?  It’s retorical.  And in case you’re wondering about the pig thing…  Apparently, the humans that evolved only from monkeys are simply not that intelligent.  These grinders claim to have been evolved through monkey and “universe pig” which helps explain why they are so damn bitchin’.  I had never heard of Pigsty until this release.  They have an extensive discography though.  From what I’ve read, the present vocal approach isn’t quite what their older stuff sounded like.  In any event, I’m sure some backtracking is certainly in order.  Do the world a favor, pick this up, roll the windows down, and let your shitty car stereo disintegrate by way of Pigsty.  Then get a real stereo worthy of them.

Review bySilky Bravado