There's a part in Stoner Metal acts that thinks that the more it's filthy, the better it is. It's not true, because even the forefathers of BLACK SABBATH and acts as CATHEDRAL worked on a way that the abrasive sonority of their music wasn't ruined by nasty recordings. One thing is to lay filthy where it must be (and being honest, every Rock album must bear an essential amount of filthy on its music, because it comes from distortion), but other is to exaggerate on it and turn things hard to be understood. And the English trio EXISTANCE DYSPHORIA, even with a good work, shows that needs to sharp their musical work in a better way on "Minus Negative".

It's a kind of mix between Stoner Metal, Psychedelic music (all those lysergic travels that were usual on the 60's and 70's reflects on the trio's music), but with the nasty and filthy approach of Sludge Metal. It's like the heavy approach BLACK SABBATH met the psychedelic travels of acts as HAWKWIND and PINK FLOYD, and the band bears personality on what it plays. But their long songs can become boring after some consecutive hearings, what means that the trio's efforts must be better sharpened. They're good, but can be better.

The main problem, as common for such a genre: people insist that 'the filthier it sounds, the most real to the genre it is', what's a big lie (once more: BLACK SABBATH, CATHEDRAL and many more did things in a defined way when they could). It's abrasive and really crude (maybe to make it sounds organic), but there are moments when it's really annoying to deal with such crude approach. Once more: to make things cleaner and defined wouldn't harm their music or the genre itself (and if it's a model, blast it off!). There are three songs on this EP ("The Stage is Set" is just an introduction), and the band prefers to deal with long time spams on its songs (all of the three last more than 9 minutes), what turns the listening a bit boring in many occasions. "Sculpted into Nothing" is bitter and heavy, and it shows some good guitar riffs and experimental parts; some broken rhythms and contrasts created by bass guitar and drums on "You're Worse" are very good, indeed; and on "Minus Negative", the trio uses a more lysergic and catchy approach (increasing a little the melodic side of their music), with good vocals. But everything can become boring after two or three hearings. It's clear that the fans of the genre will love it, but such approach narrows the possibility of reaching a broader public (and their music has a good appeal to gain attention of fans from many different Metal genres).

"Minus Negative" isn't a total loss, but to become relevant, EXISTENCE DYSPHORIA must work things out in a better way. But once more: the fans of this specific Metal genre will love this EP for sure.