Bludgeoned by Deformity
Epoch of Immortality
(Iron Fortress Records)
4/5
I listen to Nina Simone when I choose to listen to music. I put on Joni Mitchell or Billie Holiday or The Beach Boys. But, in a dire circumstance, when it has been assigned to me, I listen to the abrasive call of death metal—here I consider the “merciless” debut EP from eastern-USA-based band Bludgeoned by Deformity, Epoch of Immortality. It has five tracks—each with a volume just as excessive as the last. This is appropriate; the group is roaring with an impassioned rage. (Or an enthusiasm for the very notion of rage?)
Without much thought, as naive as it was, I listened with dinky wired headphones, which ultimately behaved more as a speaker out of my own ears. This is also appropriate, as I was coerced into an effervescent emotional mixture of angst and disgust and an invisible smoke was blowing out all orifices. This behaviour is intentional; I am not to worry. In fact, it is thrilling to be so dramatic in this way. The feeling is powerful, tempts you into a grotesque moment of social abandonment. I was welcomed into this noise and entered with caution, but the first song is playful, thankfully, careful to not immediately estrange me. Soon after its drums succeed in dizzying my delicate disposition, I am humoured with the voice of a duplicitous televangelist praising the name of Jesus and frauding his trusting audience. Yes, this figure is a man of God, he claims, but there is something more holy to this musical crucifixion.
Each track—“Invocation of Suffering,” “Immortality,” “Intestinal Suspension,” “False Deliverance,” “Extirpated Human Existence”—is sincere. They have a fixed position (although I’m not entirely certain of the exact wording) and are gutsy to indulge themselves within this. Bludgeoned by Deformity’s immodest ability to carry over their vehemence into their respective sounds in their debut EP is acutely clear. We will be your voice, they yell. This is their promise to those of us frustrated individuals with short tempers.