Days of Desolation (Belgium) - Circles (2022)

 

Since grindcore's early days as a genre in the 1980s, there's been a surprising amount of stylistic variation afforded by its simple component parts. Seminal albums like World Downfall, Disgrace to the Corpse of Sid, From Enslavement to Obliteration and Reek of Putrefaction sound vastly different despite being released within the same 2 year span. In the decades since, the genre has mutated continuously, adding and discarding elements with each new group, scene and sub-sub-genre. Multiple distinct offshoots can even be seen among individual discographies.

Days of Desolation began life playing a crust punk and d-beat forward strain of grind. That sound isn't entirely absent on Circles, the band's 2nd LP since its 2013 self-titled. But 9 years later, their music is more intricate and heavy without sacrificing on speed.

The album is mercilessly fast in a way that will satisfy hardened grindcore fans, but there's a significant amount of orthodox metal influence present throughout. That influence sometimes manifests as the nu metal intro riff of "Moths to Flame" or the straight up dueling leads of "Bone Unto Brine". Other times, it comes in the form of an unabashed death metal melodicism that buoys the instrumental portions of many tracks and appears prominently in the closing songs on the record.  

This is technical, professional metallic grindcore that's as likely to find its way into mainstream outlets' year-end lists as it is those of niche grind blogs. The extreme level of polish that necessitates will drive off listeners who come to grind records for blistering punk immediacy. However, those looking for a record with as many clearly discernible riffs as blastbeats will have a lot to sink their teeth into. 

Circles is available digitally via Days of Desolation's Bandcamp. It is also available on vinyl in the USA via Rotten to the Core Records or in the UK via Grind Father Productions.