Meatshield - Gouge The Eyes EP

Few words need to be said about Hamilton, Ontario's Meatshield. It's heavy, it unrelenting, and it's one of the best local releases to be pumped out of Ontario this year.

My band has crossed paths with these guys a couple times this past year and between playing a ton with them in Hamilton and having them out to the yearly festival my band organizes in our hometown (where I actually filled in on bass for them) I can without a doubt say that I've listened to this EP more than probably any other release from a local band.

 Gouge The Eyes opens with the title track (a rerecording from last years demo) and it rips though in just under a minute with blistering speed. The first time I listened to this EP I actually didn't realize that it was over and thought that track 2 was still the first one. Bastard in a Basket carries on the unrelenting speed and heaviness brought in by Gouge The Eyes although there's some slower groovy sections that help break up the chaos. Tracks 3 and 4 (She Must Be Sick and Eat Your Friends) carry on with the fast/slow sections that came out in Bastard In A Basket  but that's not to say it's all the same. Eat Your Friends has a sludgey breakdown section towards the end of the song that I get excited for everytime the song come on. Finally we have the last track Winds Of Shit. This is probably my favorite track, there's some rediculously heavy dissonant parts and sections that sound heavily influenced by The Dillinger Escape Plan, especially in the drumming.

Overall this is a solid outing and I'm truly excited for whatever they do next.
FFO: Maranatha, Cursed, Homewrecker

Gouge The Eyes on Bandcamp
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