Review: “Trials of Failure” by Open Kasket

In 2022 Little Rock Arkansas Sludge Metal infused Hardcore crew Omnibane started a new band in Open Kasket after a four year run in order “to separate our new sound with the sound of Omnibane“. What followed was a pair of EPs in 2022’s “Trapped in the Pit” and 2023’s “Blood Moon” with the three piece becoming a five, the Sludge Metal element falling away to be replaced by a Death Metal sound. Three years after the initial style shift debut album “Trials of Failure” has surfaced, said to revolve around self deprecation and full criticism of one’s self. Sonically, the promise is of a crushing slab of Death Metal comprised of caustic riffing and relentless pummelling with an unholy trinity of guests making their presence felt.

Mixed, mastered and re-amped by Conor Haines at Corruption Studios the record comes to life with “Ersatz (Sine Die)” and lets just stay that Open Kasket waste no time in getting straight to the point. Imagine if you will the sound of “Nomad” era Kublai Khan on protein and steroids after six months of gym sessions while listening to nothing but Beatdown Deathcore. That’s what Open Kasket bring to the table with throat shredding vocals from Fox Stillman and a wealth of hard hitting sonic brutality. There isn’t a moment of recovery before the band pile in with “No Value“, a cut that reinforces the approach with chugging mid tempo staccato riff breaks and groovy drum patterns. A sample opens up the floor for some Hardcore Punk bass courtesy of Jake Rasch before the kind of riffs that bring out the two steppers on mass, the whole time those caustic vocals tearing holes in your ear drums. It’s as potent as a Molotov cocktail and and when Stan Liszewski of Terminal Nation joins the party for “Internal Threat” its easy to see why this band have a reputation that precedes them. Churning and stomping, its the nuances that really give this one something else, the band not afraid to play with sonic textures and tempos in order to conjure something that is the metaphorical equivalent of a mixed martial arts warrior.

To tongue in cheek humour of a song title like “Bruised Sprainstein” is designed to make you crack a smile but rest assured there is no let up in the bands unrelenting slab after slab of Beatdown Death Metal as this one hits harder than a freight train broadsiding a truck. Rasch offers up some higher pitched backing vocals which are a nice contrast to Stillman’s bark so you get an echo as they roar “Burn everything!“, the headbang ability of this one as undeniable as the savage downtempo finale. The opening riffs of “Should” then take the band into Knocked Loose territory before a dramatic slow down for uncompromising death growls, Stillman spitting and snarling his way out of the tar pit one footstep at a time. An eerie, haunting melody conjoins the cut to “Putrid Existence“, the pair never to be separated by any kind of surgery. A barbed affair soaked in self loathing, this one is the kind of cathartic vent that finds release in spitting blood with Ryan Thibault coming up with some innovative drum fills for the sparser moments. As if that wasn’t abrasive enough “Defective” increases the intensity of the violent turbulence as a short, sharp shock to the system that’s frontloaded with heavy hitting punches of rhythmic aggression that beat the living daylights out of the cerebral cortex.

The seventy two seconds of “Chain Whip” is just enough time for Bryson Sherick of Backbiter to give us a blood gargling slam vocal inspired verse as the bludgeoning shows no sign of slowing down. Another vicious little ditty this one makes good use of the bands attention to detail with body slamming riffs, groovy drums, and monstrous rumbling bass that leave no stone unturned on the path of total an utter annihilation. There is barely a pause for breath before “Chemical Death” sees Jackson Edwards of Zashed give us the third and final guest vocal appearance. Another violent and bloody delight, this one has a few Groove Death riffs thrown into the mix for good measure with the distinctive air of having a Deathgrind influence or two. A fleeting eerie atmospheric moment is a call to a circle pit for a ripper of a second half, the skull splitting, spine juddering of it a stone cold winner. If the men in white coats weren’t already on the way to collect Stillman for a stretch in a padded room with a straight jacket on then his vocal performance on “Ripped Up” should be enough to have them on high alert. The opening two thirds is as heavy and destructive as it gets before a totally unexpected left turn at a fork in the road and a melancholic almost Post-Hardcore inspired fade into black leaves you wondering what you’ve just witnessed [8/10]

Track Listing

1. Ersatz (Sine Die)
2. No Value
3. Internal Threat (ft. Stan Liszewski of Terminal Nation)
4. Bruised Sprainstein
5. Should
6. Putrid Existence
7. Defective
8. Chain Whip (ft. Bryson Sherick of Backbiter)
9. Chemical Death (ft. Jackson Edwards of Zashed)
10. Ripped Up

“Trials of Failure” by Open Kasket is out 7th February 2025 via Barbaric Brutality Records and is available over at bandcamp