SINGLE REVIEW: Filth – Southern Hostility

’…This track right here is nasty. It’s disgusting. It’s pure filth. And if you know your heavy music, you know that is high fucking praise…’

This track right here is nasty. It’s disgusting. It’s pure filth. And if you know your heavy music, you know that is high fucking praise.

Heralding from North Carolina, Filth are a band doing it like no other. Certainly, rap and rock have been bedfellows for quite some time, but have you tried hip-hop with deathcore? If not, then get ready to, because this latest track from the band is an absolute must-listen.

Taken from their upcoming album of the same name, ‘Southern Hostility’ is violent beast of a track. Vocalist Dustin Mitchell delivers slick vocal flows alongside guttural lows over rampaging instrumentals that slam into the listener with aggressive grooves. The lyricism is bloody and unrepentant, with bars such as ‘I am not a game you can play/You’re either with me, or in my fucking way/12 Gauge blood sprayed blow yo ass away’; Mitchell is simply indomitable as a frontman, harnessing a controlled rage that makes the whole performance electrifying.

At the midway mark, the most absurdly disgusting instrumental break hits you, Austin Fortenberry on bass and David Gantt on guitar laying down the most ungodly groove over the cruising percussion from Alex Huss, who just moments ago was blasting the listener with a wall of drum beats. It’s the sort of musical moment that will have you rewinding just to hear it again, and again, and again.

The track gets capped off with an absolutely monstrous breakdown; a crushing, slow build to the climax as Mitchell delivers the most vicious guttural vocals, hitting you with lines like ‘Come hard or not at all/I’m painting your brains on the fucking wall’. Filth don’t just know how to write a breakdown; they clearly understand what separates not just a bad and a good breakdown, but a good breakdown from a top-tier breakdown.

Kudos must be given to the production and mastering by Greg Hinck of Chop Harder Studios. The pure depth and energy that Hinck has been able to capture is astounding, giving every element of ‘Southern Hostility’ room to achieve maximum impact. Every hit of a snare, or every bass vibration, all of it captured and exemplified perfectly by Hinck’s work.

’Southern Hostility’ is what heavy music is all about: pushing boundaries as far as they can go. This isn’t just more clean-cut rap rock that has been around since the 90’s. Filth understand that the vibe of heavy music and the vibe of hip-hop are perfectly complimentary to one another; it’s about making the listener truly feel elevated.

Let me repeat myself. This track right here is nasty. It’s disgusting. And it is pure fucking Filth.

For Fans Of: Loathe, Skindred, Knocked Loose, Ho99o9, Lorna Shore

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