She Said Destroy “Time Like Vines” CD

Having never heard of She Said Destroy before (and thus ignoring the potential Death in June reference), and seeing that this release was handled by Candlelight Records in the US, I initially missed the tiny Nocturnal Art Productions logo on the back cover of the disc, so upon my first listen I was expecting this to be mediocre, screamy, third-rate-at-best metalcore. So imagine my complete and utter shock when I was greeted by these Norwegians' impressive attack of completely uncategorizable metal! It's a thickly layered concoction that sees roving basslines and totally sick drumming with just the right amount of jazzy flare laying the foundation for some truly unique guitar work built largely around dense, rhythmic, dissonant chord phrasings whose twisted arrangements often give way to high-speed death metal influences that have a technical, progressive sort of undercurrent. A few slick solos pop up on occasion, and there are some softer atmospheric clean passages and such involved as well, though such attributes are indeed in the minority here. Meanwhile, the powerfully aggressive vocals are damn near as layered as the music itself, gelling surprisingly well with their unique approach to melodic instrumentation. And though they rarely (but occasionally) sound alike, She Said Destroy's distorted guitar tone sounds quite close to that of Anacrusis' almighty "Screams and Whispers" album—which is a rare and esteemed comparison in any regard—so this is definitely a rather curious outing... if not at times a downright strange one!

Vision: the sound of our infant bones crushing between her divine hands the pools of blood and the filthy black smoke the vision of bodies upon bodies and the never ending rain—it chases me unendingly she said destroy at the coming of nightfall she said destroy as an answer to betrayal joy to the world vision of our absence the rain shall wash away our rot and joy shall overcome the world joy to the world vision: the coming of Kali.

I've heard very little about these dudes, so maybe I'm not the only one thrown off by the band name/visual aesthetic of the record, but this is highly recommended for anyone looking for something a little outside the norm for metal these days. Pick one up if you fit the bill:

Candlelight Records