Pristina, The Drought (Ov Salt and Sorrow)
This Connecticutt outfit has progressed and evolved a great deal since we first reviewed their debut EP, Boner Jams ’07 (The Harpooned Heart), back in 2007. Pristina have matured with the release of The Drought (Ov Salt and Sorrow), their first full-length since forming as a side project. The misshapen grind-influenced metalcore that the band based their original sound on has shifted and morphed into something noisier and much bigger.
Sure the grind elements are still in the mix, but also incorporated is a good measure of noise, chaos, doom and an immense scope. Belting out five tracks (2 old, 3 new) in just over 45 minutes time (the title track alone is 23 minutes in length), the guys aren’t out to show you that they can out play every other band out there or blow your mind with some crazy concept album. The Drought is a constant barrage of distortion, reverb, anger and caustic textures that serves as an unrelenting aural battering ram on your ear drums. You’ve been warned.
Moonshiner
This eight and a half minute opener starts off with two minutes worth of layered sound clips over burly guitars and rolling drums. Once those clips end the guys get down to business with thick bass, caustic riffs and plenty of growling screams. There’s a rough texture covering the dense music coming from the speakers through this track. Discordant guitars, thick bass, unrelenting drums and a mix of vocal deliveries combine quite well to bludgeon you into submission, while a few lighter parts allow you to clear your head between each blow.
Because I Can Kill You
I’m not sure if this is a true re-recording of this track from Khe Sanh since I don’t recall the track starting off with this particular clip from the movie “Jarhead.” At any rate, it definitely sets the tone for the wall of distortion and noise that follows. The thickness and slight repetition of the song reminds me of the stuff that Premonitions of War did on Left in Kowloon.
Salt Water Cthulhu
This is another re-recording of a track off the Khe Sanh EP. I’m beginning to think that the band’s first full length is more likely a really long three track EP. Either way this rendition of the song is chock full of more distortion and suffocatingly dense. It’s still a damn good track.
Temple of the Morning Star
“Temple of the Morning Star” is a complete departure from the rest of the disc. It’s mainly comprised of light played acoustic guitar and bongos supporting lyrics that are repeated over and over through the five minute length of the song. The cool part however is how the vocals build from a softly sung (and clean) presentation to caustic screams as the music amps up a bit. The song isn’t nearly as dense as most of the material on The Drought, but that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t have a solid impact on the listener.
The Drought (Ov Salt and Sorrow)
Another sound clip gets the 23 minute title track rolling as thick, distorted guitar and bass erupt with a solid beefiness to accompany the deep guttural growls (that seem to have a little production effect thrown on them). The two minutes or so is a slow moving, menacing wall of destruction, then the vocal presentation shifts as the sound opens up a bit. Speaking of the vocals, there are a couple of guest spots here performed by Steve Austin (Today is the Day), Rennie Resmini (Starkweather) and Scott Angelacos (Bloodlet) — all of whom are screaming their ass off. Man, there is one hell of a drum solo lasting from 9:30 to the 12:20 mark as reverb and noise start to work their way back into the track. A two minute long sound clip follows that sort of breaks this song into two distinct sections as the thundering and dense material that follows is more layered and caustic as multiple vocals are layered on top of one another. This is certainly an epic track that has a boat load of shit going on in it.
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Additional Notes:
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