Since releasing Portrait Of Nothing, I have been a fan of A389's Homewrecker. Last year they released a split with The Love Below and blew me away even more. The track "Cemetery Man" was one of my favorite songs of the year and was the cause of lots of anticipation for their debut full length, Worms and Dirt. So I don't know what the fuck delayed me getting this review done.
The improvement from Portrait Of Nothing to Worms And Dirt it is incredibly obvious. Of course it is natural for any band to mature over time, but I don't think many could have predicted Homewrecker turning into the juggernaut they've become. On last years split, they seemed to lose a touch of their grind side and adopt more of the heaviness they had touched on before. That trend continues on their LP. That's not to say they have abandoned their grindcore/power violence/whatever you wanna fucking call it style. They visit it plenty throughout these nine songs, but it is over shadowed by the powerful metallic hardcore in my opinion. Given that their are equal moments of grind, NYHC and Holy Terror hardcore, it is surprising that they fuse together so seamlessly. Oh yeah, they put in some dumb atmospheric track called "Visions Of Terror", skip that shit.
Fortunately the follow up song is one of the albums best and allows you to easily forget that pointless 42 seconds. "Chained Hanging Victim" builds up feeling like a bulked up Integrity before handing over vocal duties to Full Of Hell's Dylan Walker, then closing out with a super mosh part to match any NYHC band. Sounds stupid right? Well, you're an asshole.
Being only nine songs (eight actual songs) long this record moves pretty quick. However, the bands first EP was also nine songs and I think that the longer length in these tracks easily showcases the bands improvement. The songwriting shown throughout the album shows a band putting a lot of thought into writing exciting extreme music. Other than that absolutely stupid 42 second track, this record will hold your attention 100% of the time if you are a fan of hardcore or grindcore.
I know this review sounds a little underwhelming for the praise I am trying to give Homewrecker, but I'm not going to go all ape shit trying to hype them out. I honestly feel at the end of the year this record is going to be on a fuck ton of "End Of The Year" lists. Decide for yourself, but if you disagree, please know that I don't care.
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