Same Sex Dictator : " Open the Coffin"

This drum & bass duo features Eye of Nix drummer Justin Straw, whose prowess is undeniable in this venture. They are like Eye of Nix in the sense they do not fit neatly into a single sub-genre of metal. Sludge and grind core are two of the more prominent components in the opener. They relish in the ugliness and abrasive tendencies they snarl out of sometimes angular passages with. Even after the bass lead in to " Obviously Dead" the fact this is just bass,drums  and synth is often obscured by the heaviness. The more metallic rumble this song finds flirts with death metal, though they never strike me as being blatantly influenced by anyone band. They even find themselves caught up for a second in blast beats before going into something more hard core.

There is a little more atmosphere to "God is Not Here". It is shattered by the mammoth lumber of the fuzzed out bass. The vocals harshly screamed and bellowed with varied amount of mucous raked from their throats. They go into an angry call and response at one point on this song.  They grow into a more hammering aggression with  " Becoming Aurelius". More elements of noise become apparent with the rough around the edges riffage. They do not pick the predictable way to deliver dynamics as the heavy chaos of "Run Into Knives" is bookended by two different approaches to droning ambiance.

There is a slight nod to post- punk with the beat to "Sarcoidosis". It proceeds to hit the winding math rock groove with a more punk aggression than their explosive tendencies have previously hinted at on this album. They ease back into more sonic punches on "A Murder of Crow(d)s " . The vocals return to call and response with a crusty shout answering to the more death metal vocal. They burst out of the dark brooding first minute of "A Crippled House" with a spasm of hard core punk. The drumming beats this into a more metal form.

Closing out the album with "Betrayal Was A Mutual Term" that gets a little darker in almost a Neurosis fashion before the bass bounces the song into motion. The stomp is abandoned for a more double bass propelled bridge into punk rock and back again. This album is solid yet unpredictable. The fact the mood is pretty sardonic throughout keeps me more engaged in some of their punk rock moments than I would other be if they had taken the bratty straight ahead approach to the sharp turns into punk. If you don't like you metal cut and dry with crusty doses of hard punk then this album is for you.I'll give it an 8.5 for now and see how it grows on me.