Quills
Self Titled
8.8
Hot damn, you mean to tell me that super groups aren’t always less than the sum of their parts? Get outta here. I approached this self-titled EP by Baltimore’s Quills with both high expectations and a certain degree of caution. The band features members of Misery Index, Ruiner, and Swarm of the Lotus, all of whom have put out very impressive albums over the past year. Somehow, though, they manage to actually fulfill the intimidating level of potential suggested by those names, and this release is one of the most compelling grindcore albums I’ve heard in a long time.
It’s a goddamn shame that it’s so short too, because these boys could wreak some serious havoc with a little more time. As it stands, though, Quills is a seven-minute blast of hooky melody played with absolutely scalding speed and intensity. It is brief, to the point, and almost instantaneously memorable, which is far more than I can say for virtually any grind. Danny Porter (Ruiner), behind this album and his main band’s recent EP, has firmly established himself as one of the most innovative and exciting young hardcore/grindcore guitarists around. He’s gifted with an unfailing knack for crafting blistering high-velocity chord structures that somehow simultaneously maintain a stunning capacity for hair-raising catchiness. Drummer Chris Csar (ex-Swarm of the Lotus) and Misery Index/Dying Fetus bass honcho Jason Netherton provide a super-tight and oftentimes crusty rhythmic bass to Porter’s desperate fury. The overall effect is something like His Hero Is Gone ripping through their set in doubletime while Pg. 99 and Orchid egg them on, and it’s friggin’ beautiful. Some of these songs have even gotten STUCK IN MY HEAD (“I Sank Your Battleship,” “The Flickering Light”), and if you know your grind you know exactly how much that means.
It’ll be a fucking crime if these guys don’t put out a full-length, and the sooner the better. Seven minutes of this shit just ain’t enough.
