The instrumental intro track from which this EP takes its name is atmospheric and well conceived, with big swells of strings and crunching guitars fused to conjure a sense of portent. And then it’s straight into frenetic speed metal (or, as they prefer to call it, ‘progressive Death Metal). Whiplash drumming and lightning guitar picking combine with hurricane-force power chords and impenetrable tortured vocals screaming like a stuck pig and growling like Satan’s intestines after a particularly fiery vindaloo on ‘Cut and Hunt’.
The arpeggiated guitars get a bit much on the six-and-a-half minute ‘At Graves End’, and the jazz-tinged breakdown in the middle of ‘The Promise’ is unexpected but works surprisingly well in providing a brief respite from the molten metal onslaught. Overall, ‘Nine Fingers’ is a full-throttle beast of an EP that distils murderous rage into a tsunami of noise.
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