There is an age-old debate about the nature of creativity – is it actually possible to create something that is truly original? Or are all seemingly original works merely the culmination of eons of human history and advancement, simply a reinterpretation of what has come before?

Or something like that. Whatever. Maybe you don’t want to hear about that bullshit. Maybe you just want to rock.

Enter the latest release from UK rockers Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (heretofore referred to as Pigsx7), Viscerals, an album that offers a hypothesis to the question posed above, as well as the necessary vibe for those who could care less and just want to mosh.

In terms of what came before, Viscerals does have obvious influences, sounding like My War­-era Black Flag covering Hawkwind, or maybe vice versa, with plenty of nods to the metal gods Black Sabbath. And let’s not forget the Melvins as well.

The opening track “Reducer” (also the first single) is a statement of intent, managing to encapsulate everything the band is going to do over the next 39 minutes in only four and a half. It’s a track that shows that they not only can throw down some riffs, but know how to craft a good song.  Drummer Christopher Morley sets the tempo for bassist John-Michael Hedley and guitarist Sam Grant and Adam Ian Sykes to lock into with a pummeling riff over which vocalist Matt Baty delivers his speak-sing vocals. The song eventually slows down to hammering, sludge-y riffs until its conclusion.

The band keeps it slow and heavy for the next two songs, “Rubbernecker” and “New Body” before the interlude Blood and Butter featuring a macabre spoken word performance over a disparate and atmospheric instrumental.  The band picks up the tempo for the final four tracks of the album that pay homage to a classic style of metal, doom, and 80s-era hardcore riffs.  But it comes with a psychedelic feel smeared on top, simultaneously conveying the sound of a band that is incredibly tight with an airy, free-form feeling, compliments of the reverb-laden lead guitar.

Overall, while the band very much wears their influences on their collective sleeve, they have managed to create a sound that is very much their own. Pigsx7 stands strongly with contemporary bands IDLES and Pissed Jeans, both of whom have a very clear and similar lineage leading to their own unique identities. Viscerals shows that the source of true originality does not necessarily have to be completely alien, but something that combines influences from the past into an unexpected concoction. And it can be argued that this concoction results in one of the best albums of 2020 thus far.

Viscerals was released on April 3^rd on Rocket Recordings.

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