Honorable Mentions from the Abyss #13: Pacifist+Death by Fungi

Hey brutalbangers,
some days ago you discovered an Indian thrash metal act called Sabotage. Well, this time we'll dig into the Indian hardcore punk scene through two very talented bands: Pacifist and Death by Fungi. Both self-released their own EP in 2019, and both were sent me by the Bengal agency Qabar Extreme Music PR.
So, welcome to this new episode of "Honorable Mentions from the Abyss" (no reviews, no votes, only mentions!) and let's start to discover these Indian bands!

PACIFIST - "GREYSCALE DREAMS"

For their debut EP "Greyscale Dreams", Pacifist (FB page) thought well to do the things in a big style since it was mastered by none other than Brad Boatright at his Audiosiege Studios, that is now a renowned name within the extreme metal as well the hardcore punk genres, and it isn't the first time that he's mentioned on these pages (MuD, Atrament...). So, do you think that "Greyscale Dreams" is good? FUCK YEEEAH!!!

For the truth, what you'll listen throughout "Greyscale Dreams" isn't hardcore punk in a strict sense. In fact, is a 4-track EP in which there is a creative post-hardcore with lyrics about the dramatic social situation in Mumbai, the city of Pacifist, and where the noisy and the melodic parts are well balanced. These last ones can lead the music to be very atmospheric, as shown especially by the closing song, the same titletrack. The sound is quite aggressive but the band prefer to have a more mindful approach consisting even of groovy moments that reminds me a lot of Rage Against the Machine, like in "Pedigreed", that, in addition, is the only song of the EP with a (noisy) guitar solo. After 13 minutes of post-hardcore music that could makes happy the fans of bands such as Helmet, I think that "Greyscale Dreams" promise plenty of good things to come for Pacifist. And for you?

DEATH BY FUNGI - "DIE IN BOMBAY"

Born in 2013, Death by Fungi (FB page) comes from Bombay and their new EP is entitled, indeed, as "Die in Bombay", that was recorded with their new singer Tabish Kidir of Dirge's fame (it is a sludge/doom metal act where there is also the Pacifist's guitarplayer Ashish Dharkar). The curious thing is that also Death by Fungi mastered their EP at the Audiosiege Studios but not by Brad Boatright but by Derek Leisy. The final result is always remarkable and I've to say that, in comparison with Pacifist, I tend to prefer just Death by Fungi without any doubts. The reason of this is simple and you'll discover it very soon.

VIOLENCE! This is that reason since Death by Fungi, throughout the 4 tracks per only 8 minutes of "Die in Bombay", plays a really violent and angry form of hardcore punk that includes even blast-beats here and there, and you know how much I love this kind of approach! But their hardcore punk is also something more because it's so dynamic and unpredictable since it has a lot of different influences ranging from mathcore to thrashcore and to death metal, and without forgetting that the band is even able to be atmospheric for short moments. Plus, every song have their own strong personality, so to range, for example, from the gloomy "Guilt and Admission" to the melodic (but violent, anyway) "Attrition" but, curiously, I noticed that the last two songs of the EP have a different (but better, for me) production in comparison with its first side, and I wonder why. Nothing else to say, if you want a form of ferocious but advanced form of hardcore punk, well, Death by Fungi are perfect for you!