Although I'm definitely excited to cover acts I already know in this space, there's a certain joy found in covering bands that are new to me, and not that well known in general as well. Something that Voronezh, Russia natives Bufihimat deliver in spades as an impressive act who've existed since 2008, yet somehow I only stumbled upon them recently when they released their debut album, I.
The band has a unique sound, owing as much to grindcore and mathcore as it does various strains of technical death metal. The end result comes across like a frenetic merger between Cryptopsy, Wormed, Maruta, early chaotic Dillinger Escape Plan and Psyopus, Origin, and Cattle Decapitation. Paired with a touch of unearthly blackened dissonance worming its way in at the same time. If the result of that kind of fusion between different styles sounds like unhinged stuff, you've come to the right conclusion, and that will certainly play into whether you enjoy this, or find it to be too caustic for your own tastes. Throughout the eight dense tracks on I, you will be subjected to endless torment, and I suspect its ceaseless mania will cause more than a few minds to cave in automatically upon hearing it.
While you might suspect that a band as intense as Bufihimat would devolve into style over substance, it doesn't. The material here is meticulously crafted and expertly delivered, and all of it spews forth in a similarly minimalist way when it comes to the short run times of the songs here. Overall, most of the songs don't even hit the three-minute mark, and even fewer of them reach further than that towards four minutes and beyond. And yet, in spite of that, the songs here are remarkably dense and compact, absolutely overloaded with quality ideas and unending venom that is a beautiful thing to behold in its own twisted way.
If your interests lie in tech-death that merges supreme brutality with unorthodox creativity, then I will be a record that will blow your mind. Every time I put this on, I feel like I've been slammed into a wall, reeling from its impact, while attempting to dissect everything that's flying past you in the songs at warp speed. Records like I, and bands like Bufihimat, are a rare breed, they only emerge when highly skilled worshippers of the genre unite under a common goal and vision. For that reason alone, I urge you to give this album a shot, as it's truly a special release, one that's well worth your time and money. If you dig what you're hearing, I can be ordered through the Bufihimat Bandcamp page. Be sure to follow the band over on the Bufihimat Facebook page as well.
