03/20/12: Pig Destroyer - Natasha (2008) [Crossover Review 4]

03/20/12: Pig Destroyer - Natasha (2008) [Crossover Review 4]

1. Natasha

     Oksentaminen's chose "Natasha" by Pig Destroyer for this crossover review. You can check out his original post here. I have not heard most of the bands that Scott Hull is/was a member of so I did a little bit of reading on Pig Destroyer before I listened to this album. I'm not the biggest grindcore fan but oksentaminen's review made it very clear that I wasn't about to listen to a grindcore record. That ended up being completely true. Having not heard ANYTHING else by Pig Destroyer I can safely say that this album is a departure from their other material. If I had to guess they were a grindcore band, I would have never been able to do that based on listening to Natasha.
     The album is one 37-minute track and has a wide range of styles present. It starts with dark ambient and droning mixed with audio samples which eventually breaks into a sludgy metal song. There are heavy doom filled moments, followed by beautiful echoey guitar riffs which fades away to water dripping and a low foreboding drone. This album was all over the place yet completely unified as one cohesive composition. I am super impressed with this album. It was truly an interesting ride. Ambient music and certain types of rock can bore me if I'm not in the right mood. This album moves seamlessly from metal to ambient to just sounds, and back again all the time and at just the right moments. The conclusion of the track can only be described as an ocean of static and even at the albums simplest moments, I was paying attention to everything. Oksentaminen, you know me pretty well, my friend... good show! (080)