Of Concrete Gods have overcome many an obstacle to get this EP out to the world. The COVID pandemic, coupled with an illness in the band, forced the band to take a step back and take time out which allowed the band to spend time writing and recording. HurtPeopleHurtPeople is the result, an aural assault of heavy intelligent tracks that see the band at the height of their creativity.
The band state…
“The theme of the whole EP is summed up in the title – when people are hurt and broken, then most of the time they repeat the cycle and hurt other people that wander into their lives. It’s a hard cycle to break, and each song in the EP explores that idea from a different angle. Codependency, deceit, rejection, self harm, misanthrope, and various other forms of lashing out at people because you don’t believe yourself worthy of love”
A powerful start with the stomping great opening riff for the first track ‘Her Embrace’. These guys deliver in huge slabs with the chugging guitars matching the drums to deliver the head banging rhythms. There is no missing the singer’s vocal talent either as he belts out the lyrics using full range of gruff to soaring with a drop of death growls. Emotive is the key word for this EP. From the swampy metal, a guitar solo emerges giving our ears a proper musical treat, these buys can play and play very well together.
The vocals turn evil for the next track ‘Good Samaritan’ a grungy doom laden track that’s thick on the sludge with its relentless riff and cymbal heavy drums. A chorus that delves to newer depths in heaviness as the track is driven along by those thunderous drums.
‘Chasing Cliches’ is a heavy rock track with a solid wall of sound. There is so much going on in this track with short guitar phrases and melodic runs adding to the fuller sound. The driving rhythms sound so good on this track. As with ‘Her Embrace’, you get a sense these guys well full of creative ideas as they constructed each track.
A touch of numetal about the epic ‘Death Of The Fool’, an interesting listen with one of the best vocal performances on the EP. Another long track pushing the 8 minute mark, but this band make use of every second squeezing everything into this track. Once again the drums play a big part from the rolling fills to the cymbal crashes as the music rises and falls. This is a band I want to hear more of.
From one epic to another ‘Obsidian’ is an exploding doom masterpiece. It’s the perfect track to finish this EP with as it encapsulates the whole vibe of the previous 4 tracks. A gentler acoustic led start soon slips away as the band brings the heavy with an earth scorching groove. It’s a crushing track with some fancy guitar work to end on. You don’t hear much of this kind of work these days and I enjoyed it immensely.
This sounds far from what an EP should offer and a full-length album is well overdue from these guys. The fact they manage to deliver such quality after the recent times they have endured is a testament to the bands motivation.
The level of talent on show here is hugely impressive gifting the listener to some seriously well crafted tracks. The 5 tracks demonstrate the bands endless creativity and songwriting talent as they weave several ideas together rather than staying content with simply pummeling eardrums. They have added a level of intelligence to the tracks that see this EP as a must for rock/metal fans who like a little something extra from their bands.
More please lads.
Check out the bands track ‘Death Of The Fool’, below:
Find out more via the bands Facebook
Read our interview with the band here
Pre order the EP here
