After a long six-year wait, Pig Destroyer are back with Head Cage, their sixth album, and have continued with their shift in direction away from straight-up grindcore. Ever since the experimental Natasha EP accompanied Terrifier, Pig Destroyer have been looking for ways to broaden their approach to grind by incorporating elements of noise, sludge, hardcore, doom and groove metal. One thing Pig Destroyer consistently carry over between albums is an intensity-building intro, and on Head Cage, this uses a couple of Kubrick musical samples and a Thulsa Doom quote from Conan The Barbarian to segue into “Dark Train”.
Another aspect guaranteed by Pig Destroyer; Scott Hull’s guitar work is as deadly as always. He fires out a mixture of ferocious and groove-orientated riffs throughout the entirety of Head Cage’s 33 minutes. The drumming on Head Cage doesn’t really throw up any surprises and isn’t helped by a strange drum mix, but the inclusion of a bass player has expanded Pig Destroyer’s overall dynamic along with the usual noise and samples. JR Hayes’ vocal performance is both throat-laceratingly aggressive and reasonably legible but unfortunately lacks the variety of range he achieved on the previous recordings. He is bolstered though by a number of guest appearances, on “Army of Cops” Hayes’ vocal duties are shared with Richard Johnson from Scott Hull’s other grindcore band Agoraphobic Nosebleed. Other guest spots come from AnB’s Kat Katz’s, whose instantly recognisable shrieks make a return to Pig Destroyer and are a highlight of the lethal “Concrete Beast”, and Full Of Hell’s Dylan Walker.
Much was made of lead single “Army of Cops”, it drew a very mixed response when it was released prior to the album launch, leaving long-time fans unhappy at Pig Destroyer’s incorporation of am almost Slipknot style nu-metal stomp. At that time I thought it was a great track in its own right and in the context of Head Cage it works well, acting as the perfect buffer zone between the full-on grind of “Dark Train” and the grooving sludge track “Circle River”.
Elsewhere, Head Cage is a bit of a mixed bag, there are some hints of the fast and furious grind Pig Destroyer are renowned for, but these tracks aren’t the strongest on the album. The slower, longer tracks are the ones that stand out on Head Cage. The final track, “House of Snakes” has a guitar intro very similar to Metallica’s “Blackened”, to the point that on first listen I thought it was going to be a cover and expected to hear that track’s signature riff and drum fill to kick-in. Instead, we get a crunching bass line (which is new to Pig Destroyer) leading into a slow groove-laden sludge riff from Hull, before a pacy final flourish closes Head Cage.
It feels like Pig Destroyer have a bit of choice to make as far as what direction they take now, and Head Cage seems to be a bit of turning point. For the people pissed off that Pig Destroyer have progressed and aren’t rehashing their grindcore roots on every album, Head Cage is not going to placate their anger at all. For those of us accepting of the fact that Pig Destroyer have moved on since their Prowler In The Yard days, have incorporated other genres into their arsenal, and are that bit more accessible, then Head Cage is a solid but not astounding listen.
Header image by Joey Wharton
Head Cage is out now
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