There’s a lot to be said for consistency in metal. While some bands feel the need to push themselves with each subsequent album, trying to find new ways to expand their sonic boundaries, others are fine with the age old ethos of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Faithxtractor is one such band. Established as the musical Frankenstein of veteran multi-instrumentalist, Ash Thomas, Faithxtractor have been cranking out rabid old school death metal long before the “OSDM” craze of the late ’10s was even a thing. So yeah, not that you would, but if you wanted to, you could call Thomas a bunch of things. Six string shredder, devilish growler, and metal of death maestro immediately come to mind. A bandwagoner, he is not.
He is also one busy dude, balancing his brutish baby with Shed the Skin, Surgikill, and about half a dozen other bands/projects, not to mention guest appearances, studio work, and most likely a 9 to 5 job because let’s be honest, unless your name’s David Vincent, this music don’t pay the bills. So when I saw the year would be kicking off with a brand new Faithxtractor album in Loathing and the Noose, I was pleasantly surprised. Only two years since Contempt for a Failed Dimension, it’s the shortest gap in between Faithxtractor albums to date. I could only assume the fire under Thomas’ ass to crank out this type of dark and devastating death metal has only grown hotter, and the music on here backs that assumption up.
As usual, Faithxtractor wastes no time with preambles or prefaces, cutting right to the chase with the downright walloping “Noose of Being”. It’s a blasting outburst of hellish Deicide-esque death metal, leaving us gasping for air. “The Loathing” continues the onslaught, its off the charts speed at times bordering on deathgrind territory. While Thomas is primarily known for his guitar and vocal skills, I have to hand it to him for his drumming on this album, which is absolutely bonkers. The Pete Sandoval flavored blasts and fills add even further character to the already compelling riffage.
If there is a surprise to be found on Loathing, it’s the undertones of death/doom scattered throughout. Upon being *ahem* slammed by the painfully slow passage in “Flooded Tombs”, I chalked it up to a brazen one-off. However, as “Caveats” lay its clammy grip around my neck and the closing “Cerecolth Vision Veil” lumbered about, it became evident that Thomas was definitely listening to some Mental Funeral era Autopsy and early Peaceville classics when writing this one. That being said, I wouldn’t go so far to call this a death/doom album through and through. Breakneck first-gen effusions like “Ethos Moribund” and “Beholden to Nightmare” are unstoppably frenetic as ever, countering these slower moments.
Yet again, Faithxtractor have bludgeoned us with an all killer, no filler album of pure death metal domination. Upon revisiting my review of Contempt, I noticed that I used similar terminology to describe that album too. Well folks, it may be another year and another album, but the sentiment remains the same. This death metal maniac proudly raises his horns to one Mr. Ash Thomas and all that he does for this music. So should you, or forever feel the wrath of the noose!
7 out of 10
Label: Redefining Darkness Records
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Shed the Skin, Deicide, The Chasm
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