REVIEW: Boltcutter – Still Broke [2025]
Artist: Boltcutter
Album: Still Broke
A refreshing change from a bombardment of indecipherable scientific and medical jargon, the debut full length offering from Boltcutter makes a bold statement by title alone: Still Broke. I’d be willing to bet a lot of people can relate to the title with the current state of things. I’m no exception, being in education or medical training for nearly a decade, I’m a lot closer to richless than I am riches, so to speak. All this is to say that Boltcutter aren’t exactly your run-of-the-mill slam band. Existing as one of the few who successfully manage to channel the same careful balance of gimmick, hip-hop and horrendous aggression seen and heard from slam’s rising stars PeelingFlesh without feeling like an outright rip-off—and without falling into the perilously corny punji pit that is wigger slam, Boltcutter craft an uproariously fun and unrelentingly heavy experience on Still Broke that makes it a must-listen for any fan of breakdowns, blast beats, samples and pig squeals; furthermore, it helps explain how Boltcutter’s own trajectory is beginning to takeoff, cementing them as a prodigally talented and punishingly aggressive in the genre’s current slamscape.
In the last month-and-change, we’ve gotten top-tier examples of various types of brutal slamming death metal between Drowned Under Concrete’s 1444, PeelingFlesh’s PF Radio 2 and Corpse Pile’s In the Beginning…. Despite all of these records being immense entries into the genre, they’re all very distinct—one would be hard pressed to confuse one for the other. A spoiler alert—Boltcutter throw their hat into the same ring with excellent effect—but the sonic similarities to PeelingFlesh make them the first potentially redundant artist in this relatively elite club. True—while Boltcutter do evoke shades of PeelingFlesh—they sound more in line with the band’s Human Pudding era more than they do The G Code or either PF Radio. Still Broke is home to a seemingly unending torrent of nauseatingly quick blast beats, chunky grooves and riff and—of course—breakdowns and slams robust and ruthless enough to reduce ossicles to dust. “Exit 263” hammers most of these home even as a modest introduction—but songs like “EBT Exsanguination” and “Get From ‘Round Here” are some of the finest examples. Built on a foundation of some of the fastest, bounciest and most precise percussion you’ve ever heard on a debut slam LP, Boltcutter boasts ten-ton fretwork and a lurid, plodding bass that makes every heavy moment about five-fold heavier. “Get From ‘Round Here” stands out as a personal favorite (and not just for the “back up Terry” sample), but just about every track features at least one groove, portion of percussion or breakdown that’ll blow the listener’s shit back—and it would be surprising if there’s just one on any given track. If mach-speed percussion and bone-busting breakdowns don’t do it for you, the samples—ranging from niche pop-culture references to niche hip-hop verses and more—probably should, if you enjoy fun. Staying true to form with their debut EP, Boltcutter don’t slack on the tasteful-but-still-gimmicky use of effects and samples to add another dynamic to a release that is otherwise barbaric in its instrumental approach.
Boltcutter’s instrumentation is effective—straightforward, mind you but effective—but one aspect where they do separate themselves by a league or two from many of their would-be peers comes with consideration of their vocal element. Any vocal range or style in the book when it comes to screams, gurgles, gutturals, shrieks and squeals is somewhere on Still Broke, and if it doesn’t come from the band’s seemingly omnitalented vocalist, it pops up in the several features that round out the record’s runtime. A personal favorite has to be the IMPACT features on “Irreversible Cashectomy,” complete with the casino slot machine sample and all as he yells “We on that infinite money glitch/this shit ain’t working/we’re still fucking broke.” If you want the tough-guy hardcore yells, you’ll get them in spades between IMPACT’s part on “Irreversible Cashectomy” and the Chain Gang feature on lead single “Richless and Bitchless”—another staple—that draws harshly spat, easily intelligible syllables into the fold, juxtaposed against ruthless guttural bellows that I assume are also words.
The only thing left to defend on Boltcutter’s Still Broke will be the deafening cries from the terminally online that Still Broke is, essentially, a poor man’s PeelingFlesh record. Sure—the similarities are there, and if you like one, you’re definitely going to like the other—but Boltcutter feel less like a band attempting to capitalize on another band’s sound and style and more as a band drawing from similar influences with a similar musical modus operandi: to make fun, ignorant and ultra-heavy music. Still Broke is that, to a tee. Is it the most technical record you’ve ever heard? No. Will there be people who turn their nose up at it? Absolutely—but Boltcutter didn’t set out to pen a genre-defining, awe-inspiring, Grammy-nominated joint, so critiquing it on those grounds is a predicate for complaining. Instead, Boltcutter set out to make something outrageous, heavy and more than a little silly—and with that, they hit their mark in spades. Still Broke is an excellent release for anyone trying to widen their armamentarium of contemporary slam acts while staying away from the super-serious and dangerously cheesy bands that are nigh abundant. After all is said and done, Boltcutter will probably still be broke after the release of their debut LP—but they’ll be well on their way to making a name for themselves within the heavy music community.
9/10
For Fans Of: PeelingFlesh, Snuffed on Sight, NecroticGoreBeast, Chain Gang
Connor Welsh
