Review: Pig Destroyer “Terrifyer” CD

I like Pig Destroyer, and this is a good record, but I have to say, after repeated listens, I'm just not getting why so many people are flipping out over this one. Is it good? Sure, I already said that. 21 tracks in 32 minutes, tons of changes between ripping speeds and slightly slower yet very energetic runs, intense screams under a great filter of distortion, plenty of blastbeats, etc. But I don't necessarily feel like this is their strongest work to date in the grand scheme of things, and the recording bugs me significantly. A shitload of detail gets lost in there. The drums sound pretty good but can get overly taut at times, cutting through the mix and clouding up the guitar parts. And the vocal distortion, which I love (the vocals are my favorite part of the disc, followed by the insanely tight and speedy drum fills), also works against the guitars, which are my key issue. I just think the guitar tone is too messy. It's pretty heavy, but there's not enough of an edge to grab onto, so there's no real crunch, and as technical as some of the riffs are, it's hard as hell to make out what's going on behind the drums and vocals. Beyond that? The songwriting doesn't grab me that often. There are some slick fills and raging guitar parts here and there, but as short as most of the songs are, it's rare for one to really grab me by the throat and refuse to let go. But, admittedly, the best tracks do show some killer advancements. "Gravedancer" opens with some weird rocked out riffing that definitely kicks ass, even leading into some half-sung vocals, and this is by far one of the best songs herein, and definitely one the band's finest moments as well. "Towering Flesh", another of the longest cuts, also has some brutal slower riffing that stands out, as well as an excellent clean passage/dissonant break that lets the vocals get much clearer in its presence. And what about that fuckin' solo!? Sweep picking!? Shit! I love it! "Restraining Order Blues" brings back a little of the vicious rock with some really memorable hardcore-ish chord progressions, "Carrion Fairy" is straight up 80's thrash metal, "Crippled Horses" has some nice midpaced chords towards the end, and closer "Terrifyer" is chock full of some fucking amazing sludgy discordance that's much heavier than most of the other tracks by far (bordering on a sound ala Morbid Angel circa "Covenant"). Awesome. The layout is mostly clean, bold text over black or red backgrounds, but what artwork does exist looks fuckin' great, I love the colors and textures and it really fits this record well. Opening up the booklet first up is a six-page story laying the foundation for the 30+ minute DVD audio disc "Natasha", followed by the lyrics to the entire record, which are (aside from "Natasha") pretty succinct - though all are pretty fucking intense, as is the aforementioned story. "I feel the glacial crawl of time like a dull razor carving up my face I can feel the last drops of youth lingering inside I write another love letter to another heartless girl." As usual the band's creative approach to themed lyrics is in full force, which is definitely a cool twist. An audio DVD disc is also included with one mammoth track, "Natasha" (running well over 30 minutes), that mixes a slower and much more menacing side of Pig Destroyer with intensive dark ambient jaunts complete with samples, whispered vocals, and some distant synth melodies on occasion. Admittedly the track drags on at times, largely due to the extended noise passages, but the core of the song drops some destructive midpaced doom/sludge riffing that totally fuckin' kills. I think the song would've been far stronger were it a little more focused, but it's thematic qualities definitely seem to key into the fact that it kind of plays out more like a short film or something. I definitely wish there was some sort of visual accompaniment though, as I'll never listen to this DVD because I don't like sitting around looking at a blank TV while audio plays, you know? It seems like a waste to include the song on a DVD since you'd have to have surround sound to really get the full effect anyway. I don't know. I've never been the biggest Pig Destroyer fan in the world or anything, so I'm not let down by this, but I have followed them for years, and I do consider myself a fan, so... I enjoy this record, but I stand by my confusion as to why so many people are touting this as the band's best work, or one of the best records of the year, because I'm just not feeling that. A clearer and more powerful recording would've made a difference, certainly, but I'm still not blown away by the writing as a whole. Certain individual tracks absolutely kill (I do think some of Pig Destroyer's best songs appear herein), but there's a lot of blur happening elsewhere for me. A good record, and one that should satisfy the band's fans, but like I said, I'm not really following all that hype.