It’s Monday and Mondays suck, so let’s grind it out with Corrupt Moral Altar’s Eunoia.
I’m not behind on the news that Corrupt Moral Altar said fuck it and released this monster for free, I just plan these that far ahead. And I was on this one day one. Mechanical Tides was a good take on grind and sludge, though I wasn’t fully taken by it. Eunoia as a successor is an insane, broken bottle of ragged riffs, thick songs that gets crusty, and grind that holds back at no avenue.
I’m so used to featuring albums that are under ten-minutes that I feel spoiled suddenly. Eunoia clocks in around forty-three-minutes without a wasted moment. The UK based four-piece are a supergroup of slaughter. Not the least of which is Chris Reese (of the mighty Evisorax and Horsebastard) on vocals. His madness spews throughout the album like on “Destroying Everything You Believe In.” An appropriate title to a track that sounds like a 2×4 caving in some skulls.
However, where Corrupt Moral Altar stand strongest is how they handle their members. You’ll notice John Cooke is the guitarist/backing vocalist on this ship, and sure as shit, the opening bit of “Human Cry” sounds like a page torn out of his Venomous Concept project (one of his many bands). Drummer Tom Dring plays in the Magpyes, a grindier project that…you know what? Just go here. Then come back. You won’t find that here but this album gets blackened at times; he does bring that. There’s also bassist Adam Clarkson. Because leaving someone off felt shitty at this point. Point being the band has chemistry. Let’s crack into that a little more.
So, what does Corrupt Moral Altar do that other grind bands don’t? Well, they aren’t pure blasters, moving from one speed freak section to the next. And as much as I personally love that, the band like to get sinister and play with their formula. It’s not a slog from one section to the next. Tracks like “Night Chant” can be just as grinding as they are thick and sludgy. The track excellently mixes up the two without ever feeling like it must adhere. It makes clear distinctions but isn’t afraid to puree the sounds.
There’s no cut and clear to any of Eunoia’s contents. As much as the band cranks up the grind or sludge, they also throw in plenty of crust and d-beat elements. There’s always something that’s twisting the track just enough to turn it on its head. And if it isn’t immediately apparent, it will be in a few moments. Pieces like “Burning Bridges and Burning Homes” starts out on a punkier grind note and switches itself to something crustier and d-beat-ier. It even kicks back a bit and settles down into a punkier mood but still puts on a thrashy show. It’s nuts. Later, it takes some time to get to blast beating before closing off on an aggressive, driving note that gets heavy as hell.
And that’s just one song. Almost the entire friggin’ album is like this. I’m not even done digesting this record and I've had this on for almost a month. But this thing is too sinister to not share. If somehow you missed the news that Eunoia is out, then now is the time to get to get on this. The amount of material on this thing and the carefully crafted quality of every song is enough to cover a month’s worth of Monday Grinds. If you like grind, sludge, d-beat, hardcore, death metal—whatever, heavy music in general, Corrupt Moral Altar have put out a behemoth of a sophomore album. And you know what? It’s free. In case you forgot. Go forth and grind.
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