Review by Sandre the Giant
German deathgrinders Terra Builder are developing quite the promise for their music, and their debut record ‘Solar Temple’ looks to add even bits of sludge and black metal into the furious, boiling melting pot that we’ve seen already. It is due out at the end of September through Transcending Obscurity.
‘End of Orbit’ hits hard to start; a massive slab of deathly chug before a waspish battering commences. Like a lot of Transcending Obscurity’s releases though, this isn’t just focused on run of the mill. Terra Builder’s work is jagged, angular and uncompromisingly savage. When you expect it to slam you in the face, it instead sneaks around the back for a subtle strike. When you’re ready for the second pass, it hits you with brute force. Songs build into monuments of darkness, the brutal chugs of ‘Interplanetary Portal’ carving violence across your skin while the powerful ‘Abyss’ even threatens atmospheric black metal at one point. Terra Builder show repeatedly that yes, their primary goal is some kind of oddly futuristic dissonant devastation but their influences are a primary reason for their success. They take much from the likes of Godflesh on the martial chug of ‘Cryogenic Sleep’, while the torpedo barrage of ‘Dead Celestial’ is very Pig Destroyer-esque. The roiling chug of the title track is very reminiscient of Gojira’s ‘Backbone’ while the neck wrecking swagger of ‘Total Overcome’ is probably my favourite moment of breakdown chaos this year.
Deathgrind bands are often painfully one dimensional. Yes we know, it’s in the genre name, we know you can destroy shit with the best of them. But bands like Terra Builder are ready to evolve the genre, they aren’t just here to refine and perfect something that hasn’t really changed for decades. No, ‘Solar Temple’ is a record that has been put here to stand as a monument to inventiveness, to variety, and mostly to the unbridled, animalistic violence required to make it happen. This will tear you apart.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085171787474
https://terrabuilderband.bandcamp.com/album/solar-temple
https://www.facebook.com/transcendingobscurityrecords
https://transcendingobscurity.bandcamp.com/
The Killchain 