Review: “Writhing Between Birth And Death” by Bile Caster

Purveyors of monolithic, soul destroying, Doom soaked Sludge Metal that will grind your spirit into the dirt with its harsh truths and bleak nature, Bile Caster crawled out from a damp, dark basement torture chamber hell in Leicester in 2019. A 30 minute demo in 2020 and a split with Mazakari followed a year later with the unholy trio of Joe Lander on guitar and vocals, Nick Eagle-Evans on bass and former Acid Goat drummer Adam Starkey pushing themselves to the limits of depravity in doing so. Now, three years on they return from the wilderness with a debut EP of three tracks running to 30 bone crushing minutes. Recorded mixed and mastered by Ian Boult at Stuck On A Name Studios in Nottingham with vocals recorded separately by Marcus Green at Resurge Audio in Leicester…

Crushing mid tempo sounds from the bowels of hell is what Bile Caster create with “Abscess“, the opening eight and a half minutes a spiritual descent into madness as the devils dungeon whippets bark at their master. Distorted dissonance echoes around the hollow chamber of the skull creating the kind of sonic devastation that excites Brendan Auld and has striking echoes of any one of his Blackened Death Metal projects like Snorlax, Siberian Hell Sounds or Resin Tomb. Subtle tempo changes in elongated instrumental passages accompany caustic throat splitting vocals to keep you entertained because this bone shatteringly abrasive music soothes even the savage beast. The oppressive noises Bile Caster conjure maybe bleak, brutal and raw but they are also soul stirringly satisfying. Stripped to the bone “Trapped” feels like the band took a huge bong rip, hit record and played as low and slow as humanly possible. An artform in itself, the slower you play the harder it gets to perform, the brain having too long to think about your next move; however Bile Caster nail it to perfection. You can hear the resonance of ever single chord, the vibration of the drum skin at each strike and the agony in the pained vocals and as it surpasses ten minutes it feels restless and relentless in a monolithic fashion. Some may find it an endurance but this trudge through the muddy trenches is one that has a depth and texture that others seldom possess despite the battery acid façade. A mournful melodic introduction to “Harrowing” sets the tone and captures the imagination before a return to the slow, crushing distortions that feel like being dragged into a black hole. The band utilize speech samples to add another dimension to this tale of the hopelessness of endless depression and a more apt title for a song you will probably never find. This one is like wood stain on skin, is seeps into your pores and stains your soul, grinding your bones to dust in the process. There is no escape. Resistance is futile. Dare to stop listening and you might find you start to itch like a junkie in need of another fix… [8/10]

Track Listing

  1. Abscess
  2. Trapped
  3. Harrowing

Writhing Between Birth And Death” by Bile Caster is out 4th October 2024 via Cursed Monk Records and Eggy Tapes

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