Dan Hillier
The second LP from the Eastbourne filth flingers, Work Yourself To The Bone, is an ugly, ugly record. Imagine Melvins, Eyehategod and Iron Monkey, but with the nihilistic extremity of Believe In Nothing, Kulk and Mastiff. Imagine Black Sabbath, but if they spent their entire career on methamphetamine instead of the sweet leaf and nose candy. Imagine this nation’s collective disdain distilled and pumped into our water system. It’s a turgid torrent of abrasive bile, but such is the point. Whereas the band’s 2024 debut, Low End Scum, was an abrasive acid wash, this new record sees Black Groove choosing to address issues that affect them and English society as a whole.
Instead of this being a record that batters and brawls for the sheer fun of it, it addresses how this nation is looking like less of a green, pleasant land and something more resembling the slurry that was pumped into the ocean around the band’s hometown this summer, a place where the only way to make ends meet is to leash oneself to the capitalist grindstone. But the frantic energy remains, as does the bleak sense of humour. And this is what makes this album just so good; it’s feral, groove-filled ferocity that’s focused yet still feral. From the corrosive NOLA vibes of ‘Fuck Nose’, to the two-stepping ‘Little Jimmy’ all the way to the tar-like filth and feedback of the choking 10-plus minute closer ‘Dave the Double Shift Slave’, here, Black Groove take sludge, doom and hardcore and presents it in a form that’s glutinously horrid yet still pointed. It’s horrific noise for a horrific time, and it’s absolutely wonderful.
Work Yourself To The Bone is released November 13th via Human Worth, with 10% of all proceeds being donated to Survivors’ Network to help aid their crucial work in supporting survivors of sexual violence and abuse across the Sussex region. Find out more about Survivors’ Network and their work here, pre-order the record via Bandcamp here, and stream Work Yourself To The Bone exclusively early below.