Review: Pupil Slicer ‘Fleshwork’

Back in May of 2023, I had my eyes well and truly opened to a band that, at the time, I had assessed as being the bastard offspring of fusing math rock and grindcore, a band with such a visceral intensity that it had been the likes of which I hadn’t heard before.

I reviewed their previous album, Blossom, at the time and got to witness the outfit in a live setting at Portals Festival the same year. To say I was blown away was an understatement; utterly destroyed is probably a more apt definition of the experience.

That band is Pupil Slicer, and if you have no awareness of them but are looking for an ear-shattering, face-melting, utterly overwhelming voyage into insanity, then look no further, as with Fleshwork, they are back to solidify their stake as one of the most awe-inspiring new acts of the current era.

I vaguely remember Blossom feeling a bit like it would run away with itself, and although I really enjoyed that element, on this new album, the tracks seem to be more grounded, as if everything has been finetuned into a more cohesively organised affair. Don’t get me wrong, it still feels like at any moment it may well derail itself, such is the anarchic structuring of each track; it only serves to compact the intensity throughout.

Considering that Pupil Slicer is also only a three-piece, on record, they sound like a quartet, or even a quintet, such is the wall of sound they create. Kate Davies is an absolute menace on the vocals and can flit between soft ethereal serenity in the quagmire of sonic oblivion to purely satanic growls within a heartbeat. With Luke Booth’s ridiculously venomous basslines atop Josh Andrews pummelling percussion, it’s almost impossible to believe this trio can achieve such levels of gargantuan sound in a seemingly effortless manner.

As for Fleshwork, the album comprises nine thunderous escapades, each track weighing in at between two and a half and almost eight minutes in length. Some are short, sharp shocks to the system, while others are prolonged torturous experiences that will have you feeling nauseous throughout. And that’s the thing, the whole album plays through as one ongoing nightmare; it’s persistently uncomfortable, and rightly so.

Pupil Sliceraren’t here to sing about the niceties in life; they are governed by a compulsion to disrupt the fragile fabric of life that we all exist within. It’s a hard listen, but a rewarding one, even if by the end you do feel like you’ve been through a vigorous sonic workout.

Opening with one of the shorter tracks, Heather is our introduction to Pupil Slicer 2025. It’s a short, hard-edged beginning, where a volatile, ferocious soundtrack is utterly trampled by a vocal outpouring that will literally melt your face off. It does exactly what you expect it to: it enters, forces you into submission, and leaves you crying in the corner upon its exit. It is swiftly chased down by Gordian, a brutally visceral couple of minutes, an unrelenting assault to the senses that solidifies Pupil Slicers stranglehold on your psyche.

From here on, it is a futile gesture to believe you are getting out alive, and as each track unfolds, so too does the feeling of depth and despair. Sacrosanctis slightly slower, but with a punishingly abrasive grindcore vibe. It gives me nudges towards Vision Of Disorder at times, but mixed with Carcass elements, and throughout, I am stunned by its uniqueness.

Pupil Slicer are setting the standard and pushing the extreme music genre forward in the 21st century…

I get this again with Black Scrawl, which is filled with pure, unadulterated lunacy. For me, this is like a new wave of genre being forged; grindcore meets hardcore, gardcore if you will. If there’s to be an evolution in hard abrasive music, then I strongly believe Pupil Slicer will be instrumental in paving the way.

Nomad, track six, reminds me of vibrant death metal, and with its demonic bass and blast beats being used to maximum effect, there’s a real nod towards a thrashy overtone too. Conversely, I find that track eight, White Noise, is an awkward and disjointed inclusion on the opus.

However, there are two tracks that stand out above the rest for me. Track four, Innocence, and track seven, Fleshwork, really do display just what it is that I enjoy so much about Pupil Slicer.

I find Innocence to be one of the more engaging tracks, which I gravitate towards more easily. The bass-driven passages showcase the quality within the band, and their understanding of when to pull out all the stops, to experiment, and not to just go with their standard sound. It’s heavy without being breakneck, and for me personally, this is where the band excel.

Fleshwork has an interesting vibe, menacing without being too much; it’s a disjointed and multi-layered piece that really ticks the boxes. It’s tracks like this where Pupil Slicerare so much more than another loud, angry band, and I hope as they progress, it’s these elements they incorporate more and more into their sound.

Album closer Cenote is the longest track on the album and gives one last opportunity to show exactly what they are capable of. For an album which at no point is any weaker throughout, even at the eleventh hour, there are still surprises to be had, and it’s here with their parting shot that they well and truly seal the deal.

Utterly engaging, an uncomfortable ride, but a vital one for sure, Pupil Slicer are setting the standard and pushing the extreme music genre forward in the 21st century. Deserving of your attention, find them, love them, it’s Pupil Slicerbaby,

Label: Prosthetic Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Scribed by: Lee Beamish