Low Places “Spiritual Treatment” 12”/Cassette

11.7.2011

Low Places - Spiritual Treatment "Spiritual Treatment" is the latest eight-song, 21-minute EP from Low Places (compliments of A389 Recordings, with a limited edition cassette pressing from Work in Shadows), which sees the band continuing to deliver their brand of superb, grinding "power violence" (including re-recorded versions of three songs from their previous EP). Opening track, "Opfer", is a seven-and-a-half-minute instrumental that's nothing but sludgy, pounding doom laced with eerie feedback and a few caustic lead textures; but beyond that pretty much every track has a nice mix of tempos happening, which really keeps things interesting... so, they're not just constantly beating you in the face with relentless speed. Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of blasting percussion and frenzied high-speed riffing alongside harshly yelled vocals, but they tend to perfectly balance things out with a nice range of influences. There are a few bursts of more straightforward hardcore/punk; plenty of churning midpaced rhythms with occasional forays into crawling, sludgy, slow-paced runs; and "Struggle to Exist" even delves into some borderline death metal-esque tremolo picking. They drop a great cover of Neanderthal's "Crawl", too! The recording is aptly raw and adds to the already rugged and in your face appeal of the material, so... no complaints here. Low Places has this style down pat, and I'm always looking forward to hearing more.