Sons of Famine – Alcohol and Razor Blades
Ah, it’s demo time, friends. These guys have really been patient about our backlog problems (finally almost resolved, praise the spirits of the underground), so thanks to them. But listen boys, it was worth the wait, no? Sons of Famine are a recently-formed blackened death metal act from out of Chicago who sent us this demo several months ago. Properly speaking it could actually be considered an EP, because typically when you hear the term ‘demo’ you expect something extremely lo-fi, poorly produced, if at all, covered in marker art, and on cassette or CD-R, usually with more marker on that as well. This however, is more like an EP for the simple reason that it’s better packaged and it sounds awesome. Plus, unlike a demo where you rarely have more than one or two tracks to fathom, in Alcohol and Razor Blades you have four in total, so really we’re getting more into EP territory when you consider these things. Get with the program Sons of Famine this is reality. For guys that say on their own Facebook page that they’re “anti-everything and hope you die a miserable death,” they are, contrastingly, doing almost everything right and the beautiful, corrupted music they make will keep you alive for a very, very long time.
Ah, what a beautiful EP this is (not demo), and what accurate artwork! This is one case where the book can be judged by its cover entirely, because the way this artwork looks is exactly what this release sounds like. Black, with white, spectral things coming out of some nothingness to spew their decayed filth over your hipster body. You can just barely make out the skeletal hands coming from the dark ether there, with just a light touch of anti-Christian imagery without getting redundant and tiresome. And this, readers, is what it sounds like. Take that skeletal thing there, those insubstantial bones, and make it into a thing of the music, just one with a few moments of defect.
Alcohol and Razor Blades has an odd thing going for it, not what you’d expect. The first track start with a militaristic romp that sounds like a power metal ballad recorded in the early 1980s. However, this then builds into a more proper, epic chord line with plenty of grating degradation. And it pops right in there around the 1:44 mark right after a double-kick build. Once Sons of Famine get out of this awkward puberty phase, it’s like they’re learning how to have sex under the tutelage of a 40-year-old. They suddenly know all the angles, all the ways to move, and you are now their plaything, you little slave. It’s so strange, this EP goes from awkward-phase to depraved BDSM maniac several times. That’s about how sudden this effect is. By the ender, “The Seed”, Sons of Famine have thoroughly taken your body. It’s just that at times it kind of dips back down into “what do I do with this?” post-virginal state where it’s a man, but kind of inexperienced. There’s this strange tendency to go from ballad-like to suddenly insane without much warning. A beast in heat, if you will. These guys have a great sound, the vocals are pleasantly sick, and the guitars have just the right touch of unrefined. Let’s see how they handle a full-length and work out this approach.
Sons of Famine Official Facebook
Written by Stanley Stepanic
Sons of Famine – Alcohol and Razor Blades
Self-Released
4 / 5
