She - Goodpaster - Metal Epidemic

She – Goodpaster
Release Date: 16th June 2023
Label: Self-released
Bandcamp
Genre: Hardcore, Crust, Metal.
FFO: Pick a band out of those genres, if you like extreme heavy noise then this is up your street.
Review By: Mark Young

Starting with the sound of running water, The Goodpaster takes its time to start, guitar slowly chiming behind as the water slowly drops off as it launches into some downtuned madness for The Knee I Know Naught, full on riffage and pummelling drums and the vocals going over the top like a portent to war, like a herald bringing news of an impending apocalypse. And they just don’t let up, taking in every genre you can think of as they just rip through Willful Noncompliance, then into Mathcore on Old Soul. These songs are short, brutal and direct to the point. It’s bang, and onto the next one with no refrain or quiet moments of introspection. Lop off The Thumbs squeezes in so much in 56 seconds it’s an exercise in efficiency, maximising every riff and every drum pattern. Protocol Assimilator is hardcoregrindpunk and will absolutely fuck you up live.

The fact is, that each of these songs are fully formed, they are not just thrown together just for the sake of it. Bullshit Portrait is manic as it changes tempo and attack within its near 3-minute run time, it’s fantastic stuff, and they manage to convey so much in such a little time. Coming at you from the opposite side, Peace Tax is 4 minutes of fury that despite its length would be that one song that you choose if you wanted to show someone what they could expect to hear, it’s an absolute stormer and leads us into the final act. Whilst Thy Breast Yet Heaves just lurches with everything being played, as though their lives depended on it, until they put the brakes on, and you just imagine a crowd of metallers just going nuts to it. Dyed In The Wool is simply awesome and does not allow you a single minute. Album closer, Headwaters Of… saves the most visceral till last. Dropping the screams for almost clean singing, it spins you on your head as it kicks in with some of the gnarliest-into unexpected clean and subtle guitar melody. But not for long, as the anger returns, and they finish, with the returning water signalling the end.

For once, their bio is spot on. It is crushing, it does have infectious hooks and is well worth your time. It’s excellent, simple as that.