Drugs Of faith Asymmetrical CD Review

After nearly 14 years since their last LP, Drugs of Faith are back with 'Asymmetrical', a slamming piece of grindcore that extrapolates and emphasizes the hardcore punk element of the genre. Fronted by Agoraphobic Nosebleed's Richard Johnson, Drugs of Faith is a milder version of the genre, and I mean that with the utmost respect. Richard's vocal performance reminds me a lot of Henry Rollins (more Rollins Band than Black Flag) in that it's more of a talk/sing as opposed to just a full-on screaming assault as found on Agoraphobic Nosebleed and other grindcore releases. I actually really like this approach and feel that this would be a great gateway album for people who are wanting to get into grindcore but are somewhat trepidatious.
 
Some of the material on 'Asymmetrical' dates back to pre-pandemic times, while others were written and demoed during lockdown. This allowed a lot of time for the songs to marinade and really take form and it clearly shows on tracks like "Drones", "Microchip" and "The Next 100 Years". The lyrical content here reflects world views and the state of humanity as a whole with the best examples being "Divestment" and "Gas Mask" which hit especially hard. One of the heaviest offerings is a cover of the DrDoom (pre-Teethgrinder) track "Essential". The last track "Conspiratorial" is an instrumental and is kind of cooldown period that provides a little reprieve after you've had your ass kicked for the last 20 minutes.

~TJ