At this point, if you haven’t heard of the near-legendary work that Pig Destroyer has done up to this point, I have some serious questions for you and your credentials as a metalhead. Their influence and sound has become practically essential in the latest waves of sprouting metalhead generations during the 21st century with works like “Prowler in the Yard” and “Book Burner” being extremely well regarded. It was one of the first bands that I had ever heard of when I was properly getting into metal, and it’s a name that I’ll always have great respect for. Even then, though, Pig Destroyer has never really been something that I’ve listened to on any sort of a regular basis. I’ve always been on the lookout for a work that will change that, and it’s possible that it’s finally happened.
Despite a cover art that I know many find to be more than lackluster, “The Octagonal Stairway” is a voracious EP from an even more voracious act and I couldn’t think of a better 6-track devastator to release out of seemingly nowhere than what we’ve been given here. It’s brief, but excellence doesn’t always need a lot of time to be doled out and Pig Destroyer clearly understands that. All across “The Octagonal Stairway”, we’re given a truly bombastic display of everything that this band has become in all of its slowly accruing evolution whether it be in the form of past glory, future prospects being hinted at, or seemingly random elements that make Pig Destroyer feel like a different creation altogether. From intoxicating madness like “The Cavalry” to walking aural hallways hitherto void of life like “Sound Walker”, so much of “The Octagonal Stairway” is a real eyebrow-raiser in so many different ways and it’s absolutely a work that once you realize you’re enjoying what you’re experiencing it’s something you’re going to spin time and time again. Only seasoned musicians could hope to bring something like this together without there being a single hitch along the way, and if Pig Destroyer is anything they’re certifiably seasoned at their extreme craft with every ounce of “The Octagonal Stairway” oozing with untouchable power and intoxication the likes of which incredibly few other acts are able to ascertain.
If we’re to take the great names of extreme music into account for when to comes to the acts of whose influence has been no less than massive on the youngest generations of metalheads, Pig Destroyer needs to be on that list no matter what. “The Octagonal Stairway” is another brilliant brick in the tower of excellence that this band has been slowly building over the many years, and it’s with this latest addition that the tower better than ever, and I know damn well that many will come to love this piece like many others even if we know that it’s just a small step along the way of true glory for the likes of Pig Destroyer.
“The Octagonal Stairway” releases on August 28th via Relapse Records! You can pre-order “The Octagonal Stairway” via multiple sources here, and you can stream singles via Bandcamp here.
Track Listing:
1. The Octagonal Stairway
2. The Cavalry
3. Cameraman
4. News Channel 6
5. Head Cage
6. Sound Walker
