Pennsylvanian-primarily based unbiased label Willowtip Information was established by Jason Tipton in the late ’90s. From humble beginnings the label has stood the check of time, turning into one of the most revered and extremely regarded document labels in the excessive steel scene. It takes one thing particular to create a label with a persistently unfuckwithable roster of high quality, progressive artists, whereas retaining lengthy-time period integrity and sturdiness. Willowtip is the self-proclaimed ahead-considering label, releasing a slew of trendy classics and prime-shelf albums which will have a decrease profile however are greater than price your whereas.
This characteristic focuses on a pivotal early interval in the label’s historical past that had a big impact alone excessive steel tastes. As such, I’m highlighting some excellent albums launched by Willowtip between 2001-2006. Some are lesser-identified, nonetheless I’ll argue are should pay attention releases from the label’s early golden period. I’ll skip over a pair of notably pivotal albums from the interval which might be extra suited to Yer Metallic Is Olde honors, in any other case, it’s open slather. Welcome to the Willowtip Recordsdata.
Kicking off this model-spankin’ new characteristic, I believed the turbulent world local weather and ongoing ramifications of the pandemic required a very ugly, abrasive soundtrack. Many Willowtip bands of the period usually featured spastic overtones of grind, tech, and white knuckle extremity, regardless of which style they match into. The unpredictable, hostile, and infrequently difficult output held nice attraction as I used to be continually searching for offended shops to problem my thought and information of excessive steel. I’ll delve into extra accessible and important releases all through this characteristic, nonetheless, for grind maniacs unfamiliar with Boston’s Watchmaker, put together for an insanely damaging, visceral assault of the senses. Third and closing LP, 2005’s Erased from the Memory of Man showcased a contact of refinement from their first couple of albums, with out sacrificing one iota of their rawness, aggro and fever-pitch depth.
Hateful, blackened grind that includes hardcore and noise influences is the band’s modus operandi, concentrated into a very uncooked, ugly and violent battering, not for the faint-hearted. The album is a tightly executed explosion of breakneck tempos, relentless blasts, blistering riffs, d-beats, gnarly distorted tones and totally vicious, feral vocals. Blasting by 16 relentless nuggets of savagery in a mere 26 minutes, the album’s brevity works to its benefit. An excessive amount of extra of this materials in a single sitting can be robust to take, however in the proper temper this shit slays. The outward extremity and breathless urgency on show doesn’t come at the price of stable writing abilities. Sheer velocity and precision of the musicianship is admirable, whereas sneaky snippets of melody and powerful riffing body elusive hooks lends the assault a delicate addictiveness.
Like most grind and grind-affiliated excessive steel albums, Erased from the Memory of Man is finest consumed complete for full appreciation and immersion in Watchmaker‘s unsettling world. “Oncrushing Advance” is a fully brutal intestine punch, highlighting the razor-wired soiled riffage and standout drumming from Michael Garret. Nearly any observe you isolate affords some type of gratifying nugget of depth, corresponding to the d-crushed, foot on throat ferocity and spastic vocal convulsions of “Irrevocable Change,” noise laden doomy distortion of “Relentless Submit-Mortem Killing,” and frantic, piledriving depth of “Lice Crawling Humanity.” Like most nice grind, Watchmaker possessed the potential to amp up the listener and actually get the blood and adrenaline pumping.
I assume there may be an argument Watchmaker‘s music is just a little too hellbent on velocity, destruction and white knuckle extremity. Yeah a couple of groovier explosions might have been welcome, however neither is the music hamstrung by its relentlessly violent strategy. And when extra measured and out-of-the-field moments pop as much as crush, kill, destroy, they’re all the extra impactful, evidenced on the off-kilter rumble of “Inescapable Melancholy,” or sludgy grind meets noise headfuck, “Therapeutic Dust Nap.” Watchmaker punched properly above their low profile to create visceral, caustic morsels of calculated extremity and uncompromisingly brutal music to soundtrack the apocalypse. Proceed with warning.
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