Review: Holy Scum ‘All We Have Is Never’
Just as I found myself wondering when, or if, I’d hear another record from Holy Scum, the Manchester-area collective spearheaded by GNOD co-founder Chris Haslam, and boasting members of Action Beat, Dälek and GHOLD, the follow-up to their grimy, punishing, mind-fuck of a debut album 2022’s Strange Desires suddenly appeared in The Sleeping Shaman’s review cauldron. I took this as a sign, and eagerly scooped up All We Have Is Never, curious to hear how the group’s sound has evolved over the last three years.
It’s immediately apparent to this reviewer that the dark vibes evoked on Strange Desires are still present. The creepy soundscapes that close that record out open up here, as one album seems to flow directly into the next. That is, before Holy Scum erupts with the repetitive riff and rhythm battering of Waves Of Laughter, blasting the record open. But it’s the next track, These Hills, where their musical progression is on display. The opening bassline sounds like what a cross between early ‘90s Helmet and Godflesh might sound like after listening to Killing Joke non-stop for a few days.
Additionally, there is, dare I say, some melody in the vocals as well as some cool synth-action that’s accompanied by all sorts of swirling, noisy weirdness. However, These Hills may very well be Holy Scum’s most ‘accessible’ track across their two releases.
Thieves is a two-and-a-half-minute blast of rumbling, distorted bass, gnarly guitar squeals and angry, filthy vocals, whilst the awesomely named Trying In Hell manages to straddle the line between outright sonic chaos and earworm, industrial-punk fun. Liar is a lurching, rhythmic push-and-pull that is the equivalent of an unsettling, aural descent into madness.
the musical equivalent of falling into some insane, hostile vortex that you cannot escape…
Hitting the halfway point, I Am The Landalso boasts a crushing, dirty bass that serves as the song’s anchor, again, reminding me of early Helmet, Killing Joke, or perhaps more accurately, New York’s legendary noise merchants Unsane. Next up is Witches, a driving rumbling affair that is as addictive as it is catchy, with a vocal approach that is both melodic and menacing.
We begin our gradual descent with the harrowing, aural creepy-crawl that is Just Tell Me How It Ends, before being hit with Twos And Threes, a noise-drenched, pounding affair with some weird and desperate melancholic vocals. The penultimate Faces is a rolling, nihilistic portal-opener that feels like the musical equivalent of falling into some insane, hostile vortex that you cannot escape. Holy Scum, lest the listener think we may end on a cheery note, unleash Like December, the auditory parallel of a black hole swallowing a planet, as this beast is an unsettling, massive, cosmic heavyweight mind destroyer of the highest order.
All We Have Is Neverwas recorded at Black Bay Studio on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, undoubtedly aiding in the record’s sense of isolation, claustrophobia and insanity. Holy Scum, while infinitely listenable, are not for the faint of heart. This is dark, crushing music that easily falls in line with The United Kingdom’s long and proud history of bleak, stellar, nihilistic, industrial-dipped, noise merchants. Recommended.
Label: Rocket Recordings
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Martin Williams
