Baptists – Bushcraft (Southern Lord Records)

Sunday, 14th April 2013
Rating: 6.5/10

Kurt Ballou…such a busy guy these days. The Converge axe-slinger not only has his full-time band to contend, but he’s also racking up quite the production resume, including (and not limited to) Kverletak, Gaza, Code Orange Kids, and the band in question, Vancouver’s Baptists. If Ballou isn’t becoming to what hardcore/crustcore/grind as to what Peter Tagtgren was to death and black metal in the 90’s, then something is amiss. Dude can twiddle a rusty knob with the best of them.

As for Baptists, there’s virtually no guesswork involved with their Bushcraft release. Anyone with a modicum of thought and familiarity with the parties involved could figure out how this one was going to sound: raw, visceral, and fast-paced. In essence, just another cookie-cutter d-beat crust release. Southern Lord definitely has the market cornered for such bands, and Baptist did manage to wreck a few living rooms over the course of Bushcraft’s 11 songs. Of course, just about everyone has seen and heard such an approach, so perhaps it’s down to finding another way to seek and destroy. We’re out of ideas when it comes to this stuff, frankly.

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