BRAIN MATTER: Someone To Devour

Brain Matter
Someone to Devour
(The Charon Collective/Broken Curfew Records)

Brain Matter is made up of two guys you might recognize from other acts in the extreme
Christian metal underground: Seth Metoyer (Mangled Carpenter, Pulpit Vomit) and his
brother Kristeffor Olson (Mangled Carpenter). “Someone to Devour” actually came out
in 2021, but I only recently received it for review, so here we go.

This industrial metal duo, unlike other bands in the subgenre, draw inspiration from
death metal and grindcore as opposed to the more often utilized thrash and/or
alternative-metal subgenres. In fact, aside from the obvious electronically-derived
beats, this could almost be a death/grind album, with the exception of one song, but
we’ll get to that in a moment.

While the title of the album might be off-putting for those unwilling to dig deeper, the title
track is a warning about the dangers from the enemy of our souls:

Be sober-minded
Prowling devil
Roaring lion
Adversary seeking
Someone to devour
Someone to devour
Someone to devour
Someone to devour

It’s a great reminder that our enemy is real, even if not tangible or visible. “Internal
Unrest” turns the battle inward towards our struggles with the flesh and the mental
struggle with sin and/or negative thoughts:

Wrestling with inner thoughts decay
Longing for a time of peace uncaged
When will the light shine back down on me
Drowning in my sorrows please set me free
Killing me inside
It’s killing me inside
It’s killing me inside
It’s killing me inside

Moving on from the heavy spiritual take, “Finding Me Again” discovers the joy of
discovering heavy music and getting in touch with one’s own self and their true passions
and interests, despite what others around them think; and then “Splintered” once again
deals with the heaviness of this live using the analogy of cardiac arrest.

“The Confession” is the only track with a decidedly electronic/industrial feel, with its
heavy presence of keyboards and ambient sounds, and a nearly complete absence of
guitars. Don’t worry though, it’s still heavy with the dark and creepy sounding whisper-
shouted vocals.

“Harmful Habits” is thrash-heavy with blastbeats. It reminds me a tiny bit of the heavier
tracks from Brainchild’s (AKA Circle of Dust) “Mindwarp” album. “Oppressed” might be
the most intense song on the album as it’s pretty much a grindcore song with samples
and electronic beats, similar to what Discordance Axis might sound like if they used a
drum machine instead of a machinistic drummer.

Final track “Survive” features guest vocalist Sinead Olson with a deceptive and
hauntingly atmospheric intro before ripping again into another grindcore-induced track.
It’s interesting that the closing three tracks are bonus “demo” tracks, especially seeing
as how they are heavier and faster than the 5 standard tracks that make up the EP. I
wonder if they point to a different direction for Brain Matter moving forward. I suppose
time will tell.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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