Transient Suffering Through the Ergosphere
Cuff
•
February 7, 2015

Happy Happy, Joy Joy. Not. These are simply not going to be found on a Gore or Grind Metal album. Such is exactly the case with the esteemed CUFF's new and specifically-titled album "Transient Suffering Through The Ergosphere". Not constant suffering, only transient and only through the ergosphere, not near it. I'm not really sure what the hell happened in Ontario, Canada (where the band currently resides) to inspire this album, but surely it's a post-apocalyptic dystopian landscape after being completely leveled by a violent mass extermination, caused by a malevolent race of extraterrestrials who traveled to earth in an attempt to make the planet habitable to the invading specie. Or make brutally horrific Death Metal, whichever makes the most sense. Either way, it's pretty much the soundtrack for that sort of festivity.
I get the distinct feeling that these two chaps fancied themselves a good bit of DYING FETUS and CANNIBAL CORPSE. This is exactly in line with the precedents those two bands have set in the realm of Grindcore and Death Metal. You have the intensity and technicality combined with the outright percussion blasts and their magical, explosive breakdowns more common with the Slam Metal subgenre. Then there are those (not so) heavenly vocals, chugging out gutteral utterances as though you were hearing the stomach gurgles of the Shit Demon in the movie "Dogma" suddenly let out as vomit and burps. Yeah, it's just like that.
Take the first track "Spastic Craniotomy"; listen beyond the crushing drums and guitars, and you'll get the digital sounds as though they were coming from outside the earth's atmosphere. This sci-fi effect strengthens the album's case as something completely foreign and extra planetary. If I were giving this album to a friend, I would recommend listening to "Through The Ergosphere" and "Breeding Diverse Entities" to get a sense of the impressive depth and technicality CUFF are capable of. Still, I find a little bit lacking in the variety department as well as the production department, as though some of the instrumentation seems recessed into the speakers.
That being said, it's still a "fun" album to listen to and possesses a character all on its own. It's an impressive amount of music, all wrapped up in nine quality songs. Have you ever tried to write, play, and record nine songs? It just seems seriously fucking hard to be able to come up with that much material and not be repetitive. Props, CUFF, you've accomplished something most of us will never be able to do, even if there were more than just two of us working on something of this magnitude. So enjoy the "brees" if you listen, but it's not for the faint of heart! Or anyone from outer space.
<
7 / 10
Good

"Transient Suffering Through the Ergosphere" Track-listing:
1. Spastic Craniotomy
2. Malignant
3. Transfusion of Bodily Fluids
4. Gorging the Sacred Carrion
5. The Transcendence of Mankind
6. Sub-sonic Impacts
7. Through The Ergosphere
8. Breeding Diverse Entities
9. Supreme Genital Goddess
Cuff Lineup:
Bob Shaw - Vocals, Samples
Zach Smith - All Music
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