Review: “An Exercise In Self-Sufficiency” by Body Minus Head

Engineered by Kyle Krische and adorned by artwork from Ali Garvin, news of a debut album titled “An Exercise In Self-Sufficiency” from Kitchener, Ontario based Hardcore quintet Body Minus Head might not mean all that much to the average Joe. But when you start adding a little more to that statement, a little more flesh to the bone, if you will, then things start to become more, how shall we say? Interesting? Mixed and Mastered by Greg Dawson (Thantifaxath, Panzerfaust, Skeletress) at BWC Studios, the record unites bassist Jeff Black, drummer Tim Waugh, vocalist Alexandra Garvin and guitarist duo Kyle Krische, Luke Nicholson, five musicians with ancient history in bands including but not limited to Basque, Exalt, Mockingbird Wish Me Luck and Wayfarer…

These days the vast majority of bands write and record material that flows between sonic sub-genres with style and grace with the simple rule that if it sounds good who cares about naysayers calling you a sell out. They’ll either love it or hate it and ultimately as musicians you’ve got to be true to yourselves first. Taking those words as gospel, Body Minus Head are arguably best described as hailing from the darker side of Hardcore, infusing elements of Crust Punk, Emoviolence and Screamo into their sonic cocktail. They site influence from bands like Cursed, Tragedy and His Hero Is Gone, rooting their sound in dark, cold and bitter instrumentals paired with shrieked banshee wails. Opening cut “Less Than What You Once Held” is a blistering 92 seconds of visceral Hardcore that sounds like Rolo Tomassi on steroids that sounds like it was recorded live on the floor of the studio. The nails on a chalkboard that is the screeched vocal doesn’t stop when the record stops either, it rings in the ears for days like you dug up the street with a pneumatic drill without ear protection.

Follow up “Goodness and Its Implications” is just as short and sharp but like its predecessor its soaked in nuance. After a few minutes, once you get your head around what Body Minus Head are doing the dark down tuned rhythms start to become insanely catchy, clinging to you like a passionate lover whose embrace you simply can not escape. The pure unadulterated catharsis of “I Wish It Had Killed Me” is a joy to behold, the punishing rhythmic battery perfectly weighted to counter balance the winds of plague in the vocals. As caustic as it is intense, the surprisingly groovy “Reset To Factory Default” has an earworm riff that latches onto the cranium and refuses to let go despite the emotional drama of the harrowing lyrical narrative.

A hummable tune if you ever did hear one “There’s Nothing That Replaces A Slit Wrist” finds Garvin reaching almost feral territory with her vocal tirades, the pain and anguish suffered creating a butterfly effect as in turn she makes your ears bleed and yet there is no respite. The dirty chugs of “A Form More Rigid” are a reminder of sounds from the 90’s, the satisfying distorted guitar tone a thing of abrasive beauty before the turbulence of “Violence Against Everyone” makes you nauseous. It’s the eerie mid section that does it, proving once and for all that you can do atmosphere in 97 seconds while shoe horning in a fleeting spoken word for s***s and giggles. If you didn’t see her ghost in the fog then you sure as damn well heard her blood curdling screams as “It Will Never Grow Back The Same” tears through your ear canals like battery acid. Raw and fearfully emotive, the screams are accompanied by a lethal dose of rhythmic battery, roasting chord progressions attempting to pull her back from the brink of the abyss as her talons tear into the flesh.

There are points during the all out verbal warfare of “Unconditional” that Garvin’s larynx becomes an implement of mass destruction, the lyrics barely comprehendible as the guitars provide the covering fire. It’s not for the faint of heart of weak of mind but it feels strangely empowering as it cuts against the grain of what society would have normal folk listening to with a chain saw and an evil grin. Once more with feeling? “…And In This Dream I Was Finally Happy” finishes this roller coaster ride of emotional violence in style, a perfectly executed false ending allowing for a slow build back into nonsense with a vicious pick slide (who doesn’t love a pick slide?!) into bedlam. A spoken word passage into the feedback of oblivion is all she wrote… what’s that phrase we’ve been using a lot lately? As much fun as you can have without losing a limb? This sure is [8/10]

Track Listing

1. Less Than What You Once Held
2. Goodness and Its Implications
3. I Wish It Had Killed Me
4. Reset To Factory Default
5. There’s Nothing That Replaces A Slit Wrist
6. A Form More Rigid
7. Violence Against Everyone
8. It Will Never Grow Back The Same
9. Unconditional
10. …And In This Dream I Was Finally Happy

“An Exercise In Self-Sufficiency” by Body Minus Head is out 30th May 2025 via No Funeral Records and is available over at bandcamp