Song Premiere: Drugs Of Faith, 'Hidden Costs'
Download [Windows: Right-Click and "Save Link As"; Mac: Control-Click]
Richard Johnson of Drugs of Faith. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Richard Johnson of Drugs of Faith.
Courtesy of the artistI don't like to mosh. There's nothing wrong with a little fist-pumping or some righteous windmill-hair action (this guy is like the Where the Hell Is Matt? of windmilling), but I'm usually the dude on the brim of the mosh pit, pushing hyperactive brawlers back into the swirling mass. Hardcore dancers have never helped the cause, taking up space in the circle with fake karate moves and — this was a new move to me the last time I saw Converge — some kind of slam-chicken dance. (It was hilarious to watch, but the guy gets points for originality.) But listening to to Drugs of Faith's upcoming Corroded, there have been moments when I've wanted to start a mosh pit right here at the office. (I haven't.)
With the angular yet pummeling melodic sense of Fugazi and the metallic swagger of Entombed's classic death 'n' roll album Wolverine Blues, the Virginia band Drugs of Faith slows the raw, chaotically fast pace of grindcore to a hurtling mid-tempo right hook. And the band's guitarist and vocalist, Richard Johnson, should know a thing or two about grindcore: He's a member of the Washington, D.C-based Agoraphobic Nosebleed, as well as Enemy Soil.
"Hidden Costs" has the kind of intro that beckons the circular finger motion to start the pit, and with no time to waste, the drums lock in with hardcore fury. But unlike the faster-than-fast drive of most grindcore, there's a dynamic push-and-pull at play, more suited to the controlled anarchy of the mosh.
Drugs of Faith's Corroded comes out Feb. 22 on the Polish label Selfmadegod. You can watch the straightforward yet well edited music video for "Grayed Out" at Deciblog.