Pigsx7 have come a long way since Clash caught their earliest shows in scene fave joints like Brixton’s Windmill. What they have not lost is any of their potency. Despite making music that hits like a sledgehammer to the chops, these merchants of doom have become something of a crossover hit in recent years. 2020’s ‘Viscerals’ saw the band’s appeal grow further from the pure metal crowd, the quintet’s explosive live shows helping cement them as an act worth following. In many ways, the group, alongside some other UK contemporaries, has become a cathartic scream for those living on an irate and politically corrupt island.
‘Land Of Sleeper’ is the group’s fourth full-length offering, and boy, is it a doozy. With each album, Pigx7’s songwriting has become tauter and more mature without losing an ounce of their trademark fury. Standing as the group’s most accessible yet darkest release to date, this latest eight-track LP cements the trend. Opening with the deliciously gnarly ‘Ultimate Hammer,’ guitarists Sykes and Grant channel Tony Iommi at his filthiest before adding some welcome psych touches to the outro solo. It’s a thunderous opening and a bruisingly brilliant statement of intent.
‘Terror’s Pillow’ follows, its stoner rumble building to a headbanging groove for frontman Matthew Baty to scream over as only he can. It’s a brutally direct number and utterly epic sounding in its execution. Midpoint’ The Weatherman’ changes the tone nicely, the band leaning into almost a folk horror vibe, Bonnacons Of Doom vocalist Kate Smith joining in for some creepy chanting. The track conjures images of secret rituals and sees the band loosen up, letting the atmosphere do the talking—a brooding, unsettling highlight.
Showcasing some deft sequencing, the album’s zippiest cut, ‘Mr. Medicine,’ follows. It’s two and a half minutes of pure rawk and easily one of the catchiest things the band has released. ‘Ball Lighting’ closes the set. The longest cut here, but a far cry from the sixteen-minute sludgy jams of their early career and featuring a piano! Albeit a repetitive menacing piano. It’s perhaps the weakest number of offer, but only due to it paling in comparison to the sheer brilliance that came before. Without a doubt, it still has the power to shake you off your feet.
With ‘Land of Sleeper’ Pigx7 have managed to sharpen their uncompromising combo of Sabbath-esque riffs and experimental leanings into their most easily digestible – and perhaps best – album yet. It’s a slab of awe-inspiring heaviness that’s somehow timeless while reflecting the confusing and anger-inducing times we live in. It’s a post-pandemic primal scream for those who wanna roar along.
8/10
Words: Sam Walker-Smart
