Pig Destroyer

With the wait still on for the PD’s next Relapse full-length, tentatively entitled Terrifyer, Robotic Empire has released Painter of Dead Girls to satiate the restless. It’s sadly not composed of new material though, but rather previously released tracks from their Robotic Empire splits, some covers and three short videos from a live set at CBGB in 2000. Still, Pig Destroyer’s brand of insanely fast break-neck grindcore, slower, doomier metal moments and down-tuned bass-less devastation is on full display throughout their originals, even as the sound quality (never the biggest concern for the Destroyer) comes and goes. In the covers department, Pig Destroyer run through respectful (and utterly relentless) covers of the Dwarves’ "Fuck You Up and Get High,” played slightly faster than the original, a crushing, slightly looser version of Helmet’s "In The Meantime” and the Stooges’ "Down In The Streets,” which gets a heavier, slower treatment than the PD is known for. The three CBGB videos are camcorder shot and look it, but capture Pig’s live chaos, especially when vocalist Scott Hull (Agoraphobic Nosebleed) inadvertently destroys his mic and has to scream along without it for the rest of the song. Painter is a fine collection of hard-to-find material, but it reawakens the desire for new Destroyer, failing as a stopgap but succeeding as an appetiser.