Label: Missing Piece Records
Released: 17th February 2023
You know what you’re getting here. Eight tracks, sledgehammer riffs, Matt Baty channeling the deepest and darkest depths with gloomy abandon, themes of a dystopian world spinning out into chaos. All the good stuff, right?
For Pigs’ fourth album, the Newcastle band have dived fully into an existence where you can no longer tell the difference between sleep and the waking world. The trio that open ‘Land Of Sleeper’ play into their known strengths, those Sabbath riffs and power rumbling through your gut like a thousand punches. There is talk of killing beasts, of spinning out and of taking control of destiny. The tracks themselves seem to keep within themselves, a slower and more ominous power breathing life into each moment of frenzy, ‘Big Rig’ in particular might as well come with an ‘open up the pits’ sticker when the pace fluctuates thrillingly.
At the heart of the album lies ‘The Weatherman’, an eerie track that could come straight out a gothic horror movie. With additional vocals from guests (and choir), it’s portentous warnings of mindless violence and an oncoming storm make for such a high point that the album almost suffers in its aftermath as it resorts more to type. But still, you can’t knock a band for continuing to do what they do this well and the record contains more than enough big moments to continue the juggernaut onwards and upwards. ■ Jamie MacMillan
