Split Cranium bare both teeth and heart on the vicious and visceral, beat grinding, tongue-lashing new full-length I’m The Devil and I’m OK. So says the press release, and it’s true. Of the album’s 10 tracks, only a brace extend beyond the thee-minute mark, and every last one is a raw-throated, guitar-driven whirlwind assault. There’s nothing subtle about any of it. The guitars are raw, driving, thrashing away at three or four chords and racing to keep up with the frantic, runaway drums. Again, there’s not much nuance, just pounding energy as they thump and crash at breakneck speed.
Split Cranium may qualify as a supergroup, given that their lineup consists of seasoned pros in the shape of guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner (SUMAC, Old Man Gloom), guitarist Jussi Lehtisalo (Circle), Faith Coloccia (keyboards/vocals — Mamiffer, Mara), Nate Newton (bass — Converge, Doomriders), and Tomi Leppänen (drums — Circle, K-X-P), but unlike so many collaborative side-projects Split Cranium don’t indulge in ego or indulgence, and instead strip away pretty much everything -including the niceties of production – to present something that’s completely immediate, unfiltered, untrammelled, and utterly decimating.
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