During the Dark Ages, it wasn’t unusual for people throughout England to raise the prayer “From the fury of the Northmen, deliver us, O Lord!”. Over a thousand years later, with the release of Geordie rockers Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs’ new album, it will be no surprise to hear the same cries from chart-pop lovers of a nervous disposition.
Land of Sleeper is fuelled by some mighty sonic thunder and lightning, a place where its pummelling power is fully capable of laying waste to eager ear drums with feral grooves and air raid siren-like guitar solos. It really is wild stuff and is surely bound for great things.
The opening salvo of “Ultimate Hammer” comes on like a heroic cavalry charge backed by some serious artillery. “What a time to be alive,” howls Matty Baty and when guitars, bass, drums and microphones can create this kind of noise, he’s certainly not wrong. “Big Rig” brings a Black Sabbath-esque sledgehammer to the proceedings before “The Weatherman” slows things down and its sinister, crawling doom warns, “There’s a storm coming”. It may not be gentle, but it is less hectic – not for long, though. Recent single “Mr Medicine” is an almighty short, sharp shock of feral metal that lasts little more than a couple of minutes, while final tune, “Ball Lightning”, is a riot of aural violence.
Up until now, the place to see Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs has been in small-ish venues with lively audiences and rivers of sweat pouring down the walls. It might not be long before these sonic rituals are a thing of the past, though, because on this evidence, these little Piggies will soon be playing in some significantly larger halls, if not near the top of the bill on the main stage at the Download Festival.
