After two wild instalments, Creature have escaped their cage once again to dish out a four-knuckled barrage of metalcore that’s poised to not only knock you sideways, but to question why such violence has become commonplace.
The conclusion of their trio of extended plays – preceded by 2019’s Hex and Hound – Haunt is a barreling bombardment of bile-speckled noise that tackles existentialism, austerity and addresses the fact that this county is not green nor pleasant, but a coop now filled with our own filth. As you can imagine, this isn’t a subtle listening experience. But that’s the point entirely.
Much akin to the EPs that came prior, Haunt aims to authentically mirror the grim reality of the perpetual modern struggle. But whilst the aforementioned Hex and Hound did so finely, Haunt portrays the macabre nature of existence and the now integrated desperation in a way that’s graphically visceral. Opener ‘All’ encompasses this immediately. Less of a gentle introductory handshake and more of a bat to the back of the cranium that hammers home the fragility of society, the track is an urgent and borderline feral ordeal delivered with weighted riffs, piledriving drums and the spittle-soaked vocals of James Thompson, who delivers his lines with throat tearing intensity. It’s relentless, a mercilessness mirroring of the cruelty of austerity, but one that’s composed with consideration in contrast to it’s barrelling nature.
Musically, the dichotomy between rabid energy and careful songwriting is the crux of Haunt. Whilst the record takes the energy and vitality of acts such as Gallows, The Ghost Of A Thousand and Helpless prior to infusing them with bestial rage, the construction of these songs clearly been considered and pondered upon extensively. The resulting effort is a record that’s far more potent and impactful than the ones that came before it. Distorted musical melees in the tune of the scorned and disillusioned public attitude is very much the primary mood of the record, but with passages of immodest groove and surprisingly tender melodicism jettisoning from the noise, the barrages of noise are substanceful and fresh. Even with ‘Grey Ghosts’ being utterly ferocious in nature and ‘Creeping’ channeling the crimson eyed intensity of Converge these tracks are balanced with moments of delicate composure, ultimately ensuring the gravity of the music and themes land with as much pulverising force as possible.
True to the band’s namesake, Haunt is a feral and primal onslaught on the surface. But beneath the hulking riffs and barked vocals lies a delicately and finely crafted emulation of the dehumanisation, violence and life-altering trauma we as a species have subjected ourselves to. It’s an intense listen, one made harrowing when contemplated upon, but as the lyrics to ‘Grey Ghost’ allude to, compassion is the buried core of these songs. This is a record that truly presents the gravity of the manmade situation we are collectively dwelling in, but at the same time, Haunt is a record that implores us to be better, albeit with intense and violent force.