This year’s news of a new release from grindcore powerhouse, Pig Destroyer, was met with widespread excitement and anticipation. Fans of the band waited eagerly for studio footage, album cover and title announcements and release dates. Personally, I took the news with a grain of salt. Despite my introduction to grindcore through Pig Destroyer (they were the first representation of the genre that I had ever heard when I was in my teens), I was not as enthused by the announcement of a new album, unlike my peers. Upon receiving the album, I began to listen not really knowing what to expect. With the wild excitement, and praise, for Book Burner, I figured the band added something new to their formula, or broke some new ground in grindcore. After listening, I felt the same as I did before Book Burner began, unenthused. My main qualm with this release was that nothing jumped out to grab my attention. As exciting as new Pig Destroyer was, I didn’t feel the material on this record matched the level of excitement. There was also the problem of determining when one song ended and another one began (I had to keep checking my iTunes library to figure out if a song had moved to a new one or not). Speaking to it’s musicality, it is a great release. The music is tight and heavy and the overall sound is unmistakably Pig Destroyer. Unfortunately, I feel that was the only selling point of the album. Instead of running through Book Burner over and over again, I would much rather travel back in time to their earlier releases.
Is this album worth listening to? Yes, I would say that it is. Musically, it’s a great release, but nothing sucked me into the album and I demanded my attention. This is only my opinion and certain songs may captivate you. Hell, the whole album may strike a different chord with you! To summarize, and conclude, my review, you are better off listening to the band’s older material rather than trying to “break into” Book Burner.
Links: Facebook – Bandcamp – Purchase
