Reviewed by Ian Webber

Swinery is a two-man project from Wausau, Wisconsin. Opening with ominously haunting vocals over an ambient string section that does nothing to prepare the listener to what follows, Swinery launch into some supremely fast death/grind metal. The entire 11 track project, released on the SkyBurnsBlack label, clocks in at just over five minutes and serves up sound bites of hammer drill beats, guitars and electronic samples. For fans of extreme metal this will tick many boxes. "Horrors" is a typical example of the screamed lyrics which are delivered in almost unintelligible fashion over crash and chaos metal, stopping abruptly only to be followed by another brief barrage. "Dead", "Hades" and "Scion" are all slightly longer tracks of around 45 seconds each that allow a few more experimental elements to be included and have an almost ambient atmosphere. Throughout the recording there is eerie feel to these tight, intriguing offerings. Dustin James Higginbotham has put together an EP that is full of snippets that are ripe for expansion and development in a full length album. Those of a nervous disposition should however steer well clear of what are some of the most challenging tracks I have heard in a long time.

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