Downwinder Claws of Despair LP
Can it be said that there is currently some sort of stenchcore revival? The genre never really went away since the early ’00’s, and “stenchcore” arguably became an actual genre, solidified, adopted specific traits, and was considered as such at that time, already twenty years ago. DOWNWINDER has both feet in the modern stenchcore camp and, as a sucker who automatically buys any record with this tag, it got my undivided attention, like my dad watching darts on the telly. DOWNWINDER is from Volos in Greece, and is made up of members of UNFIT EARTH, DIRTY WOMBS, and FERAL KIDS, although they are not influenced, in terms of music at least, by the traditional Greek crust sound, and they do not sing in the language (apart from the last song of the LP). Claws of Despair is their second album, and I find it more convincing than the first one. It sounds heavy, mean, and dark, the production highlights what it is supposed to given the template, and the singer sounds like a zombified bear. The band can clearly be mentioned in the same foul breath as current bands like TERMINAL FILTH or CIMITERIUM, but they are even more death-metal-oriented and, not being a massive fan of the genre, I found myself unable to completely connect to some the songs. It is still a solidly executed work checking all the modern stenchcore boxes. I guess you already know if you’ll be up for this.