ninehertz

A side project of members of Keeper and Cabin Fire, the duo of Elder Devil merge to create a fresh nightmarish vision, aptly portrayed in Ethan Lee McCarthy's (Primitive Man, Vermin Womb) artwork.

The first minute of the 90 second opening Deep Vices is vocal dominated bark into the dark, the remainder an eruption of noise and intent. Elder Devil are grind and doom and death and more, crashed together at high speed, casualties and debris aplenty. The Collected is incredibly fast from the off, blazing in a fury. There are nods to Full of Hell, but blunter - not purely powerviolence artistically pushed to sonic extremity, this as much invoking measures of Black Breath, still ear blisteringly heavy, but with a permanent hulked up metallic heft.

Elsewhere, New Gods startles through an intense drumming drive through the middle, the track worthy of relistens for this alone. Nails obsessives will find much to admire, especially within After Flesh and Speechless, while the sixth and final track Needless offers variation, subtly... I like this a lot, reminders of Cloud Rat, high praise in this household.

This sound - a mass pile-on of grind-led simultaneous extreme genre stylings - is steadily growing, ubiquitous in our review piles, spreading like disease. Here, there's no fear of it wearing thin, Elder Devil adding their own little slant, Graves Among the Roots an aggressive, pressurised pocket explosive; a highly entertaining EP.