Dead Hands – Nobody Exists on Purpose EP

By RingMaster Review on October 16, 2016 • ( 0 )

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Just over a year ago, we were taken by and aback by the noise infested fury of British band Sexwolf! and their debut release, the Hangin’ With The Boys EP. Our submission to their senses devouring sound was followed by their demise in the first half of this year. It was a frustration though quickly replaced by intrigue as three quarters of the band, linking up with one half of fellow Midlanders A Werewolf and a second guitarist, emerged as Dead Hands. They have just released debut EP Nobody Exists on Purpose and fair to say any gap left by the loss of one band has been more than filled by a new encounter which sears ears as it excites them.

Creating a maelstrom of fiercely infectious noise from texture reaped from the likes of mathcore, hardcore, grind, and numerous other punk and metal based savagery, Dead Hands have taken little time to stir up attention and it is easy to hear why with Nobody Exists on Purpose. The six track violation is an irritable tempest of abrasive sound and toe curling intensity delivered through an invasion of twisted hooks and demented grooves within a sonic savaging fuelled by some viciously catchy enterprise. It is merciless, at times painfully inhospitable, and constantly a joyously addictive abuse of body and senses.

It all starts with the band’s recent acclaimed single Open Bracket. Straight away guitars are squirting sonic toxicity, tangy riffs soon joined by the heavy insatiable rumble of bass and the scything viciousness of drummer Jenks’ rhythms. It is intensive furious stuff just as infectious as it is barbarous with Richard Phillips spilling his lyrical and vocal venom into the compelling mix. All the flavours mentioned above and more are in open sight within the furious turbulence, all adding to the thick lure of the track.

It is a sign of things to come within the EP, the following Elephants Crush People just as crabby and uncompromising and just as fascinatingly littered with unpredictable trespasses, inventively virulent hooks, and ear catching twists. A mix of The Chariot, Every Time I Die, and Dillinger Escape Plan is an obvious but maybe closest equivalent to the Dead Hands roar with additional Cancer Bats/Brutal Truth hostility.

Diving Board (Jack Christ-Ho) instantly and fractiously devours and punishes while gripping the appetite with more virulently contagious enterprise, it all springing from the Jenk’s initial rolling rhythms. Guitarists Niall Jones and Dabby Gough in turn lay their creative snares, further unavoidable traps as the song overwhelms and sparks body and mind into lustful responses. Of course this is not going to be for everyone but if noise does not annoy but inspires than Dead Hands have the ability to raise the strongest ardour through songs like this and its successor Buck Angel’s Challenging Movies. Arguably the catchiest proposal within the release, the track is a quarrelsome stomp led by the deliciously testy tone and grooves of Daniel San Mogg’s bass, its truculence matched by that of the guitars and vocals. Moments of calmer, post punk lined imagination only adds to the thrilling character of the song, the pinnacle of the EP with ease.

The closing pair of 7 Days (of Craig David) and Close Bracketté finish off Nobody Exists on Purpose, the first a mouth-watering ear plundering wall of heart bled enmity and sonic rancor while the last blasts and tangles ears in a tetchily red-blooded incursion of technical and emotional fury. Both tracks also come equipped with even bolder invention and experimentation and it is no coincidence that as each song gets braver the EP only gets stronger and more irresistible ending on a rousing high.

Nobody Exists on Purpose is superb, a triumph in many ways with its seeds in the previous exploits of Dead Hand members but blossoming into not only something totally new to them but distinct to pretty much anything else out there. It is a must!

The Nobody Exists on Purpose EP is out now @ https://deadhandsband.bandcamp.com/releases