It’s been a long time since we had a new offering from power violence/grindcore mob Razoreater, with only a trickle of new music via 2014’s live split with Oblivionized. Thankfully 2016 has seen fit to bless us with the most unashamedly relentless release Razoreater have ever produced and it’s called Vacuum of Nihil.
This EP does not mess about; this is 5 of Razoreater’s most visceral offerings and fans of Trap Them and Full of Hell will find a lot to love. Razoreater are still worshipping at the altar of the Boss HM-2 pedal and that crunchy, scuzzy tone is put to brilliant use. Every chord is paired with an equally punishing cymbal crash to give every groove the impact it deserves. This is extremely satisfying stuff.
New to Razoreater’s music is more liberal use of blast-beats and tremolo-picked guitar riffs that give Vacuum of Nihil more of a death metal sound. This means that despite the sheer, unabashed heaviness of this EP, Razoreater have put together one of their most diverse offerings. Tracks like Bloodeagled even manage to slow things down to a nice sludgy pace to allow the listener to really savour those mighty grooves.
We even close on another Razoreater first; a power electronics track. The closing moments of Filth Scheming, Shrill Screaming is a thoroughly oppressive burst of harsh noise that is cleverly pressed onto vinyl with an endless run-out groove. I didn’t even realise the track was looping on my initial spin of the record which is a masterstroke on Razoreater’s part.
Vacuum of Nihil is a loud, noisy, racket of a metal EP and it contains Razoreater’s finest work to date. This band has only managed to get more ferocious with every record and still manage to find new ways to assault your ears. Vacuum of Nihil might have been a long time coming but when Razoreater deliver a record as disgustingly vicious as this it makes you realise that it might have all been worth it. This is an essential UK metal release.
10/10
Razoreater’s Vacuum of Nihil is out now on limited edition vinyl through Skin & Bones Records and Wooaaargh.
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