REVIEW: Sloths – “Twenty Years”

I feel a bit like a broken record sometimes. I constantly bring up home much I hate throwing bands into genres, but then spend much of every review talking about what genre a band is. It feels a bit disingenuous to me. Sloths, for example, are very definitely a number of things. To pigeonhole them as one thing or the other seems like bullshit.

Sloths are rooted very strongly in heavy music. There is guitar that can jump from swirling, to melodic, to driving, to almost noise. The bass is riffing rather than just a generic, supporting bassline. Both are distorted and raw. The drums throw some d-beats and blast beats into the fold, but also keep things very tight. The vocals are fucking growling. They’re that kind of vocal that just adds to the shredding, jagged nature of the music. It’s hardcore and metal, both the traditional and the “post-” variations. It still has a strong sense of melody as well. It’s a lot at once, and it all adds up to a very engaging band and record.

And, ultimately, that is what we’re here to talk about. Twenty Years is a beast of an EP. These are three songs that get shredded through in about 13 minutes. They are far more than the sum of their parts though. To give a song number/record length analysis wouldn’t be fair. It’s not fair because this EP is difficult in a lot of ways. It’s a dark record, both in topic and tone. The record is about the death of a friend, and the aftermath if it. The subject of dying young is always a difficult topic to write about and listen to. It’s not entirely bleak though. Eventually there is a small bit of acceptance and perspective.

It’s the two sides of things that make this record engaging as a piece of music, and as an piece of expression in general. The music gets fucking heavy. It gets raw. It also gets melodic and light in some places. That dark and light combination is also there lyrically in a certain degree as well. Sloths have, on Twenty Years, made an EP that is entirely cohesive from front to back. The words, the music, and everything. It’s one of those records that is one entire piece, rather than small pieces thrown together.

Sloths
BandCamp

The Ghost Is Clear Records
Don’t Live Like Me Records
Illuminasty Records

**This is digital only at this time. Physical pre-orders should go up this month**