Mass & Volume, consisting of odd-end sessions from their arguable 2007 magnum opus Phantom Limb, will be a mild shocker and/or delight to fans, as it’s basically a funeral doom experiment.
Indeed, this is not the first time Pig Destroyer have gone slo-mo. Natasha in 2008 was 36 minutes long, possessing an atmospheric, industrial/goth feel, like Godflesh meets Final meets, er, Nucleus Torn, perhaps? But where Natasha was a very dynamic piece, Mass is, in contrast, an ugly, sludgy, 19-minute-long nightmarish dirge. While it’s obvious that the band enjoy masquerading, Mass & Volume sadly offers nothing new to this particular canon of epic woe and gilded depravity. Moss are better than Mass. Monarch are better. Celestiial are better. And this is without mentioning any of the old guard. It’s actually Volume, which is literally a standard Pig Destroyer track in slo-mo, that’s of more interest, as it accentuates their knack for structure, not merely impact, and it manages to do it better than ever. That’s an avenue through which they may intrigue, were they to explore it any further.
Via Relapse
