Negative Prayer - SELF//WOUND
Self-proclaimed “Total d-beat//crust destruction” in the style of Driller Killer and Wolfpack (Wolfbrigade), Negative Prayer introduces themselves in force on their debut album, SELF//WOUND. Nine blistering tracks run the gauntlet of crust royalty, borrowing heavily from their aforementioned influences while adding a distinctive death metal flair all-their-own. The resulting cacophony of sonic terror feels appropriate as the band rails against life’s endless struggle, political apathy, and the powers-that-be driving it all, such as on album opener “Violence”.
“Hell” retains the breakneck pace before giving way, if only momentarily, on “Wound”. Channeling the proto-death metal stomp of genre stalwarts and stenchcore pioneers Deviated Instinct, Negative Wound slows things down to allow the groove to shine through. The riffs begin to flourish from here onward as they play increasingly loosely with the d-beats often rigid genre conventions. “Caged”, for example, sounds as if it would be right at home on Wolverine Blues, while “Bloodfeast” employs a spry pogo beat before launching into the kind of riff that would do TSOL proud.
“Amputate” closes the album in proper neo-crust fashion, employing sparse melody throughout a dense sludge song before ultimately ending in a melodic d-beat blast in the vein of Tragedy. Negative Prayer never truly reinvents the wheel on SELF//WOUND, but they don’t need to either. A devotional love-letter to all things crust, it effortlessly blends the genre’s many styles into a cohesive package that serves as a treat for established genre fans or as an excellent jumping-on point for the neophytes.
