Overgrowth – Rat Shovel
Buffalo metal punks, Overgrowth, drop the sledgehammer with their pulverizing debut EP, Rat Shovel.
Comprised of vocalist Anthony Muroff, guitarists Timothy Domes and Paul Mietlicki, bassist Jake Whitefield and drummer Roy Draves, this quintet makes a great first impression with this suffocatingly-heavy five-track tour de force.
Overgrowth fuses hardcore, sludge metal, and grindcore for a punishing listen that showcases lightning-fast tempos devolving into brooding, slow-motion breakdowns. Both Domes and Mietlicki lay down cinderblock riffs over Draves riotous drums and Whitehead’s thunderous basslines. Gluing these nefarious elements together is Muroff’s commanding and impressive mixture of guttural bellows and high-pitched shrieks.
Lighting the EP’s fuse with a burst of mayhem is the opening track, “End of Time.” The song is a great scene-setter and fully encapsulates Overgrowth’s sound as it slams between grindcore noise and melodic hardcore punk before culminating in a heavy breakdown that oozes out of your speakers.
The band leans even further into their sludgy influences on what is arguably the strongest and grooviest track on the EP, “More Dead More Dead More Dead More Dead More Dead More Dead.” This certified headbanger will hypnotize you with its menacing, methodical pacing and simplistic, straightforward structure. Droning, down-tuned riffs rumble over metallic cymbal crashes on a nightmarish loop that hits extra hard in the primitive caveman part of your brain. If you like your metal extra chuggy, you’ll have “More Dead” on repeat.
With Rat Shovel, Overgrowth establishes themselves as a band to watch. The EP is mean and chunky in all the best ways thanks to a fantastic production that amplifies the band’s subterranean and bone-rattling sound. Grab a helmet and spin this soundtrack of brutality below.
Overgrowth’s Rat Shovel is out now and streaming on Bandcamp.
Categorised in: Buffalo
This post was written by Matt Burgerhoff