For me, the true beauty in grind is in its power, density, directness, and brevity. It’s not the place for savoring anything other than the lasting burn of getting completely scorched for 10 minutes, like the latest effort from NYC grind project, Manipulator. It’s kinda like that myth about how a pinhead-sized piece of the sun’s core could kill someone 100 miles away, this is primed with that kind of potential, the specific capability to level you with brain-mushing goodness so quickly you simply can’t process it in a single go. In this fashion, I’m stoked to offer you a pinhead-sized piece of Manipulator’s upcoming album, To Settle at the Bottom of Your Own Ocean.
While a lot of new grind seems to skew toward mathier and more progressive varieties or incorporate more brutal slam influences, I’ve come to miss the rawer deathgrind types that Manipulator hones in on with TSATBOYOO. “Naked and Open” immediately brings to mind the vigorous efficiency of a Gridlink or Pig Destroyer, rattling through a furious rolodex of progressively unhinging riffs that dart from tension-laden scorchers to grin-and-bear it deathly chugs. Plus there’s an industrial-tinged Full of Hell kinda thing happening here, too. Overall, really, the production is in the zone and brings the fuckin’ heat. That hot snare sound, the dustings of noise throughout the record, and the dynamism in the arrangements and sequencing – it all feels so right. Project instrumentalist Andrew Notsch (ex-Sunless, This is The Last Time, YOUWRETCH) and producer Steve Henningsgard (Shaidar Logoth, Iron Thrones) have really nailed it here.
Anyway, I’ll leave you to feel the heat yourself:
While you’re at it, take a few seconds to check out Manipulator’s video for “Death Machine.”
To Settle at the Bottom of Your Own Ocean hits digital shelves August 6, with vinyl preorders up now (only a few remain!). Hit up Here is Nowhere Records, Red Dead Queen Records, or Wise Grinds Records to grab a copy before it’s too late.