Pig Destroyer – 38 Counts of Battery

Here's another new/old review. This was originally posted in the Spring of 2009 but "The Man" (as we discussed him yesterday) yanked down the entire post instead of just removing the link. Sigh...

What did I say back then?


Pig Destroyer
38 Counts of Battery
Relapse



I check the downloading statistics everyday, so I know exactly how psycho you guys are for Pig Destroyer. I also know how much you’re going to dig this album. 38 Counts of Battery is a discography containing some of Pig Destroyer’s early material. This is pure grindcore terrorism with the hatchlings that would become JR Hayes' lunatic lyricism. 38 Counts of Battery features the Pig Destroyer sides of split EPs with Isis and Orchid, the Explosions in Ward 6 LP, the Pig Destroyer demo and a Dark Angel cover from a never-released thrash covers compilation.

While Explosions in Ward 6 may be eBay fodder these days, it was unmastered and sounds like doo-doo. Those songs have been mastered for 38 Counts of Battery and many of those same songs turn up on the Pig Destroyer demo. Of all the material on this CD, I must confess that my favorites are the Carcass covers originally featured on the split with Isis. The final song on Explosions in Ward 6, “Pixie”, is a window into the future of Pig Destroyer, in addition to simply being ahead of its time. You know you need this.




Pig Destroyer – 38 Counts of Battery






What's changed since then?

The only changes have been positive. Pig Destroyer's stature as one of the all-time, heavyweight champions of grindcore has only solidified over the years. I am proud to say that I "nailed it" concerning the lyrics. If you read the Decibel Magazine Hall of Fame article about Pig Destroyer's Prowler In The Yard album, guitarist Scott Hull is quoted as saying the best thing to happen to Pig Destroyer was when vocalist JR Hayes stopped reading Chomsky and started reading Proust. Yep, I noticed it back then and I couldn't agree more.

Here's the album, sort of. It's posted to Youtube one song at a time but the next song automatically begins when the last one ends; just like a CD. In theory, it should work the same way for you. We'll find out...