Drugs of Faith, Corroded
Tackling your country’s social and political issues with music is nothing new. Tackling it with some frenzied, nasty grind-core certainly isn’t revolutionary, but D.C.-based Drugs of Faith do just that and more with their debut full-length Corroded. Featuring Richard Johnson of Agoraphobic Nosebleed, the 13 tracks on this album are chock full of grind-core elements, but there’s also a swagger about the music. It’s not just straight, up-in-your-grill grinding mayhem.
Corroded hits hard and often with a D.C. hardcore influence, some nicely timed groove and just the right amount of noise rock to create a sound that spans several genres within the metal scene — and with plenty of aggression to boot. Opening track “Grayed Out” erupts out of the gate with frenetic drums and distorted guitars delivered at a frenzied rate. There’s a sludgy influence within the band’s sound — oddly enough that reminded of Lair of the Minotaur — that’s well suited for the band’s overall sound and message.
Listen to a slightly different version of “Grayed Out” below:
“Foreign Climates” sees a more grinding attack that is staggered and all over the place before settling down a bit as the vocals come in. This frenzied eruption of noise and blasting elements is present throughout the album, but certainly not in any formulaic capacity. The hardcore and noise rock elements that bleed into the band’s tempered grinding attack really make for a unique sound that is infectious and crushing.
“Race to the End” and the bass-thudding “Hidden Costs” are a great pair of tracks that show the polar ends of the band’s influences. On one hand you’ve got a blistering eruption of grind and the other, a more noise rock influenced, yet driving interlude of caustic metal. Be sure to check out the aggressive “Anemic,” the groovy, noisy “Vignette,” the monstrous “Checkers” and the frenetic blast of “Hinges.” You can’t go wrong with any of them.
As bands try to incorporate more and more elements of the various metal genres that abound these days, the more and more piles of shit we tend to get. Luckily, Drugs of Faith have been able to mash influences of grind, hardcore and noise together into a sound that is cohesive, yet discordant, original and aggressive. It’s a sound that is old school as well as new, without sounding forced or faked. It’s the sound of a band that shows some serious promise with future releases.