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TRASHCASKET
Demo (2022)

This one just landed in my lap and was a pleasant surprise. These guys are from Spokane in Washington, and play a nasty punk-infused death metal but with thrashy crossover nuances. It’s a rewarding demo in that you get seven tracks with a total running time of just under 30-minutes of music.

Opener ‘Reigning Terror’ has a really squalid, maniacal feel – the sort of unhinged wildness that drew me to bands like Repulsion all those years ago. The vocals are mean, sneering and snappy, while the music has a lo-fi filthy vibe. The slow, chuggier segments have whiffs of Autopsy as the bass rattles competently.

‘Sacrament’ begins like an unreleased old Slayer tune as streaks of distorted blackness run through it. Again, there’s that drooling vocal sneer which drags me in every time to add to the murky, low-budget atmosphere. ‘Sacrament’ is definitely my favourite track due to its doomy segment which channel Autopsy right down to the core as the drums lumber and the guitar tone just filters into the soil, such is its low density.

For the most part, Trenchcasket provides nasty mid-tempo evilness married with bursts of punky pace. So in a sense I would call it death metal although there’s other stuff going on, but it all remains extremely murky and brimming with snarling attitude.

‘Into The Ground’, beginning with a wailing siren, is one of the thrashier numbers on offer, but you’ll still spend the duration of the song cleaning soot from your ears. Meanwhile, ‘Dying Earth’ is short and creepy, brimming with film samples and creepy effects.

However, it’s the hammering ‘Necropolis’ which really gets the black smoke billowing as the band froth with a black / death intensity before the foul chugging takes over. The same can also be said for ‘Baphomet’, a blackened slog harkening back to the first wave of unholy black metal yet thickened with death metal n’ punk serum to keep it chugging along.

‘War Machine’ closes the demo, and it’s the catchiest heap of punked-up Motörhead you’ll hear this side of the millennium. Then the thrashy bursts come in and you’re drunk on graven fumes and that sick Autopsy vibe.

Matt Clark’s drums are a mangled mess of brilliance throughout this demo, providing extra layers of filth. And the yowling vocal snaps bring extra levels of derangement to what is essentially an organic, lo-fi creation that has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum.

For those interested, the demo is available here

Neil Arnold

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