Record of the Week: Physique: Overcome by Pain 7"

Physique: Overcome by Pain 7” (Iron Lung Records) Physique quickly follow-up their killer recent LP, Again (which we named Record of the Week less than half a year ago), with six more scorchers. Physique is a veteran band and the years they’ve spent honing their sound shine through on Overcome by Pain. It’s such a brutal, powerful record. Physique has always paid a lot of attention to sculpting their sound; while their music sounds noisy and chaotic on the surface, it’s more of an intricately woven quilt than a haphazard jumble of tones. The sound they get here is beastly, with a crushing low end you feel in your gut when you blast it at the appropriate volume. Physique has only grown more adept at wielding their sound, too. As Usman pointed out in his staff pick, the playing is precise, with subtle rhythmic shifts and accents that are the mark of a great band. Just listen to the way the rhythm changes subtly halfway through “We Do What We Must…” so sick. As for the songs, while riffs tend toward the simple and brutal, they cohere as dynamic, thrilling songs. There are even a few curveballs, like the wild, over-the-top punches in the middle of “As Tradition Dictates,” my favorite moment on the record. If you’re one of the ignorant souls who dismiss Physique as unoriginal because they aren’t shy about nodding toward their influences, you must not be listening, because the power and vitality here are impossible to deny.