Blind Spite – Extinction Event

Blind Spite hails from the UK and plays some extreme black/death metal. Despite the only having a couple of EPs and a few demos under their belt, this group has actually been around since the mid/late 1990’s. “Extinction Event” is their newest release, and is over 20 minutes of extreme metal madness. No time is wasted on the title track as you are immediately hit with a barrage of blast beats, screams, and noise. Thankfully it isn’t long before the drumming becomes a bit more varied, and you know not to expect 20 straight minutes of blasting. One comparison that came to mind is modern-day Belphegor; they aren’t exactly the same, but both bands overwhelm with brutality (Blind Spite doesn’t quite take the atmospheric approach that Belphegor does though).

The mix on this release appears to favour the drumming over all else. Both the vocals and the guitars are audible, but are in a constant battle with the snare and bass drums in order to be heard. As you might imagine, the bass is almost impossible to hear. Part of the problem here is the inherent nature of this style: the guitars are so downtuned that the low frequencies fight each other. On “Doubt”, where there are plenty of sections consisting of higher guitar notes, the guitars are more audible (granted, they are occasionally played without the drums in the background here, but they are still quite a bit louder than the rest of the time). This song is actually pretty cool as it has a bit of a doomy feel to it for a good portion of the track. It also has a riff where the second half of the riff is just straight downpicking, and it is reminiscent of some of the thrash greats. This is probably the best riff on the EP, but that’s likely more of a reflection for my preference for thrash to other styles of music. This song builds to a maddening combination of twisted vocals over top of a wild guitar solo that brings the sheer absurdity of the music to a climax.

Overall, “Extinction Event” is a pretty competent release. Everything is played well, and despite my complaints about the production, it actually doesn’t sound that bad. The songwriting is more memorable than your average black/death affair, which is a major compliment considering the struggles this style occasionally has with songwriting. If this style of extreme metal appeals to you, you don’t want to miss out on this EP.

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Highlight

"Doubt"

Final Rating

3.7/5 or 74%. 

Written by Scott