REVIEW: My Home, The Catacombs – Internal Aggression [2013]
Band: My Home, The Catacombs
Album: Internal Aggression
Preview: Meet Your Demise
You are close to the breaking point; all your life you have bottled up all the shit that has been thrown at you, you had to swallow more crap than a fucking toilet and you just stood there accepting all of it. Your friends bleed you dry, only coming over when they either need money or a ride, your girlfriend is a filthy two-timing whorebag and your employer makes Hitler look like a goddamn saint. Upon this sudden realisation you decide this is enough, you make a drastic decision: tonight is the night that motherfuckers die. All your rational thinking is rendered to zero and your inner demons take over. You begin thinking of a well-concieved plan, making a checklist of the necessary equipment to commit a massive bloodbath of self-redeeming judgement. You grab for the sledgehammer, get a big knife from the kitchen and load up the gun you had hidden away for an occasion such as this. There is just one thing missing, every life-defining moment needs a bit of ambience, a soundtrack that enhances your current state of mind and makes everything seem 300% more epic, an excellent choice for this would be the debut EP Internal Aggression, spawned by the Canadian band My Home, The Catacombs. Don’t let the Canadian stereotype fool you though, this band is anything BUT overly friendly, as a band that mixes death metal, deathcore and some (beatdown) hardcore their vision is simple; destroy everything and everyone and ask questions never, all you can do is run, though it probably won’t do you any good.
If you don’t feel the urge to kill yet, the intro track Internal Aggression will change that fast. With a creepy sample, bouncing breakdowns and hate growls it sets the mood for murderous activities quite nicely. This is just a small taste of what’s coming next, the second song Hype Free, Stay Based really starts tearing shit up with fast-paced drumming, beatdowns and monstrous guitar slamming. At this point the vocals also start showing their volatile nature; venomous screeches, anger-fueled death growls, gang shouts and psychopathic rants all combine in giving you the final push over the edge. Before you reach the end of the song you will find yourself scooping your significant other’s eyes out with the rusty kitchen knife and maniacally laughing while doing so. This is not the end however, there are still plenty of songs left on the EP and plenty of other people that deserve to know the meaning of real pain. Before even realising what you did, you jump in the car with all your murder weapons and start listening to the next track Meet Your Demise. With the most hateful lyrics on the whole EP this one hits hard from the start, a slaughtering barrage of dissonant guitars and demonic screaming will greet the listener here. At this point you ring the doorbell of your friend’s place, when he opens the door you stand ready with the sledgehammer and proceed to smash every bone in his fucking body until your hear that lovely cracking noise. Black Tears is up next, and this song shows that the inhuman amounts of pure anger this band possesses are far from drained, deep bass slams and technical guitar riffing crawl under your skin to the point that it starts to melt, when you reach the end of this song you will find yourself at your workplace, relentlessy shooting all your colleagues through the head, serves them right for treating you like dirt all these years. One song remains; Dead By Dawn, perhaps the most technical song on the whole EP, not only does it have all the elements of the previous songs, it has some very lovely guitar sweeps and an overall feel of absolute chaos, with a little humorous bonus at the end. When Internal Aggression has ended you think of the horrible acts you committed, yet you still don’t give a fuck. Instead you walk towards the desk of your boss, bash his face against the wall until you see nothing but a unrecognizable mess of blood and brains. You take a nice big, steaming shit on his desk for good measure and give Internal Aggression another spin.
This is the concept that comes to my mind when I listen to this album; infinite amounts of hatred coated in a thick layer of technicality and mind-melting instrumentals. My Home, The Catacombs has proven with this EP that they are here to stay, showing massive amounts of improvement and commitment since the time they were known as Sykopath. Internal Aggression has all of the anger for the traditional deathcore fans but with loads of new potential and diversity to make their music stand out. I have no doubt in my mind that this band will improve themselves even more in the near future, crafting even sicker, angrier and morally questionable music for you to bang your head to. Internal Aggression possesses addictive beats that make your blood reach boiling point in mere microseconds and is recommended for every fan of angry/heavy music.
As it stands the band is still unsigned, however special thanks go out to Salvatore Sam Guaiana for making this album a reality and giving it the final, concrete sound that gives Internal Aggression its unrelenting personality. Be sure to keep an close eye out; the whole album will be available soon for $3 on their Facebook page!
Rating: 9.5/10
For fans of: I Shot the Sheriff, Fate Worse Than Death, Hail to the King, Beneath the Surface
