ALBUM: TALES FROM THE GUTTER
ARTIST: FILTH
You can feel it, can't you? I know you can. The sharp, stabbing pain in your head, the near fatal shortness of breath, and most of all- the desire to give up entirely. You hear a voice- distant, but familiar- telling you the very words that will send you over the edge.
This is the feeling given to you upon listening to Tales From the Gutter, the debut EP by Shelby, North Carolina's golden boys of downtempo- Filth. Comprised of nearly every member of InVoker (the only one not present being vocalist Justin Wilson), these five masters of the mosh have delivered a debut slab of slammy, sad, and skin-shredding downtempo deathcore sure to make even your grandma get out of her rocking chair and swing on everything in sight.
"They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, but your life ins't worth honorable mention." From the very beginning of the EP, frontman Dustin Mitchell makes his mission clear- to smother you in every ounce of misery he can. From the first hushed whispers of "Worm" through the downright terrifying gutturals that end Desperation, Dustin lets loose with a vocal range not heard in most deathcore, let alone heavy music as a whole. With lows as deep as the very bowels of Hell and highs sinister enough to make the devil himself scared to turn the lights out, Dustin has proven to be one of the heavy music scene's most abrasive frontmen. This trend continues through the album, with his shining moment being the end of album-closer Desperation.
But what is a vocalist without music to use as his putrid, self-loathing canvas? This is proven time and time again, with bands that have incredible frontmen and musicians that don't know what they want to play. Often times, the reverse is true. Bands that have incredible instrumentation and a vocalist lacking any sort of talent or conviction. Thankfully, this is not the case. Filth have done what seems to be the impossible- not only have they released a debut EP so good it breathes life into a genre that is known for being stagnant, but it also holds up better than a lot of its peers a year after its release. Let's talk about the rest of the band for a second, shall we? The lineup of Filth is rounded out by guitarists David Gantt and Kevin Newland, bassist Nathan Pittman, and drummer Sean Britt. Coincidentally, these four fine bringers of the breakdown are also in Dustin Mitchell's other band, InVoker. From the first drop of Worm, Gantt and Newland paint a perfect picture of pain and suffering that can only be described as the ideal sonic canvas. Throughout Tales Gannt and Newland chug, slam, and eviscerate their way through five tracks of depressing, devastating deathcore. "Insomniac" shows this excellently, combining their penchant for skull shattering slams and technical, almost disjointed technicality, creating the most wonderfully suffocating atmosphere. But these two riff-lords aren't the only beatdown barons, because providing each riff with the necessary oomph needed to really drive the point home is bassist Nathan Pitmann, Each breakdown perfectly accentuated with a clank or a pop of grime, Pittman does his job perfectly as he covers each of the album's five tracks with audible despair, with a tone thick enough to strangle whatever hope you have left right out of you. This is especially apparent in Collapse, as he plays perfectly in line with Gannt and Newland, only for them to give way for Pittman drop the song into pure, downtuned bliss.
But even for all their breakdown sorcery, these three would not be able to really coat the listener in grief without the destructive and downright barbaric drumming of Sean Britt. From the first seconds of Worm, the climactic and bitter breakdown of Insomniac, and the crushing end of Desperation, Britt lets loose with an arsenal of precise fills and thunderous booms from his bass drum. The star of the show in Collapse, Britt shows the listener that technicality isn't necessary for a catchy drum part, but rather, that unadulterated brutality is equally as effective.
Unfortunately, as a reviewer, I have to give some criticisms of the album, but thankfully I really only have one- the length. This album is far too short to be so damn good. At just over 20 minutes, the EP brutalizes and tortures the listener's psyche until the listener is yet another victim to Stockholm Syndrome and prays to the Filth below. If you're looking for one of downtempo deathcore's shining crown jewels, look no further than Tales From the Gutter.
RATING: Five out of Five Spinkicks
FFO: Traitors, Bodysnatcher, Oceano
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