Release Date- 21 January 2022
Label - MNRK Heavy
Words - Tony Bliss
With the likes of Kentuckian game-changers Knocked Loose and a trail-blazing Code Orange hailed as the last word in forward thinking, 21st century hardcore, it is certainly fair to say that not only is the scene making serious waves across the globe, but is also perhaps the most fertile and creative force operating in our world of late. Naturally, there is no shortage of thrilling bands hastening the sea-change, but whilst Great American Ghost are now three records deep into their decade and counting career, they may not spring as readily to mind as their sound deserves. Surely that must now change, as ‘Torture World’ utterly kills.
Benefiting from an immaculate Will Putney production job, the dividing line between hardcore, metalcore and even deathcore is lost in a blur of bowel loosening heaviness and breath-snatching dynamics. Opener ‘Kingmaker’ is an absolute shit-kicker, its mutant rhythmic stomp and politically charged rabble rousing sitting firmly in both camps of punk rock snot and thoroughly modern metallic violence. Indeed, there is a real lurching, unpleasant quality to many of GAG’s heavier moments, and the title track is particularly gruesome in that regard, the appearance of Thy Art Is Murder’s CJ McMahon and about a minute of hellishly fucked up guttural slam providing a real EP high point and carrying genuine deathly power.
It is not all route one brutality however, and whilst thunderous breakdowns and mosh-calls lurk around every corner, there is plenty of versatility here, with ‘Womb’ proving the band are multi-flavoured enough to include both rampaging tech-metal and spiralling lead-breaks, and some clean vocal hooks in closer ‘Death Forgives No One’ bestowing a welcome light through the darkness. There is nothing revolutionary going on, but with that tangible underground, basement show aesthetic colliding with the biblical savagery of metal's new-guard, the obvious quality of these four tracks is writ large with adrenaline to spare.
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