REVIEW: The First Disgust – “Fame and Honor” (Single/2013)

TFG

Artist: The First Disgust

Single: Fame and Honor

 

When you were young, I’d be willing to bet you drew. Sure, maybe you weren’t a prodigal artist—maybe you stuck strictly to stick figures—but I’d still lay down the contents of my wallet (which isn’t much) and bet that you put pen to paper at some point to flex your developing creative muscle. I know I did—even if I sloppily sketched and, at points, traced the images I couldn’t replicate. However, even now, and even with my finest tracing paper and sharpest pencil, I doubt I could trace the images inferred by The First Disgust, and their debut single, “Fame and Honor.” Laden with looping, labyrinthine lead guitar lines and punctuated with pummeling, painful percussion, this track is picture-perfect proof of the young band’s mastery of technical, yet atmospheric, deathcore.

The first seconds of “Fame and Honor” are misleading—kicking off with a fast-paced but deceptively simple groove which lulls the listener in. However, before the second hand can even make it into double digits, lacerating guitar lines wind their way into the empty spots of the skeletal, sturdy groove, attacking the listener with technicality. This trend continues to build, as guttural, grotesque vocals flay the listener’s ears, and the fretwork only becomes more and more furious. The technicality continues to dogpile, as odd time signatures provide a framework for bewildering drumming and intense, razor-sharp riffing. Just as the pressure exerted by the expert musicianship seems just too much to bear, the climate shifts and the listener is greeted with a warm, soothing immersion into ethereal, dream-like atmosphere. This plunge is only momentary, however—as skin-rending heaviness rush once more to meet the listener before the track fades into depths from which is mercilessly struck.

Whether you’re an artist or not, there is no denying the prodigal hand with which The First Disgust paint the glorious picture that is “Fame and Honor.” Intense and expert musicianship meet with a masterful vocal performance and technically impervious songwriting to excite the listener for whatever release the band has planned next.