STAY PLEB: Plebeian Grandstand - Lowgazers (2014)

Plebeian Grandstand - with a band name like this, you don't know what to expect. It sounds quirky enough to be a post-rock band or maybe a dark folk ensemble. But no. Plebeian Grandstand are all about NOIZE. Their latest album called Lowgazers, out soon on Throatruiner Records, is a noisy and violent marriage of post-hardcore, black metal and sludge, resulting in a thick, blackened wall of noise that doesn't let up for one second throughout the album. Imagine Portal trying to play hardcore music - this is what Plebeian Grandstand sounds like.

Every song on Lowgazers is a devastating flurry of schizoid dissonant guitar riffs and throat-ripping screams, with everything turned up to the max and played at breakneck speed. Oh and by the way, do you not like blast beats? Well tough shit, because you'll be hearing them non-stop on this album, along with some really cool and diverse fills. There is an ambiental track followed by the excellent dirge of Svn in your head, which is where the album slows down and allows you to catch your breath, but the band quickly resumes the carnage. By the end of Lowgazers, your shit will lie in utter ruin. Which is when I suggest you should hit play again.

This is one of the most unrelenting metal albums I've ever heard and with it, Plebeian Grandstand are high up on my radar. I haven't seen any live videos of them, so I can only imagine the amount of sonic devastation they put on stage. However, they do have an insane, seizure-inducing video for Thrvst, with tons of footage from creepy cartoons, horrible wars, car crashes, people dying, weird movies and also vivisection, which is when I had to get off my chair and leave the room in horror. That's it, I had enough! Check out the excellent Lowgazers and prepare to have your face blasted off.