G&P review: Drugs of Faith

Drugs of Faith

2008 Demo

Self Released

Drugs of Faith's latest demo sets a new (Jo) Bench-mark for bassist Taryn Wilkinson whose supple yet hefty performance lurks over this five minute, three song EP like a glower front giant. Her playing is practically a physical presence as she and guitarist Richard Johnson craft another hefty and hook-laden amalgam of industrial grade grind and hardcore.

Opener "Race to the End" passes the truth in advertising test with a Heisman worthy rush to the endzone. "The Age of Reason," a timely yet blistering ode to rejecting religious superstition in favor of reason and the scientific method, introduces a start-stop dynamic to the Virginians' overstocked songwriting repertoire that expands the band's boundaries and provides a welcome palette cleanser from session drummer Jake Cregger's otherwise dominating drum performance. His blasts and fills are tighter than a pickled nun's anus as he methodically works over his kit, leaving not tom untapped and no cymbal unsmashed.

While Johnson has more than a passing familiarity with the drum machine, he and Wilkinson may want to extend an invite to Cregger to imbibe their drugs on a fulltime basis because his physical style meshes perfectly with their organic performance.

Though Drugs of Faith bill this as a demo, mastered by Johnson's Agoraphobic Nosebleed fellow traveller Scott Hull, this platter lays waste to many a professionally recorded offering with a (presumably) Lilliputian budget in comparison. If this is meant to be a teaser for an impending new release, Drugs of Faith have got me hooked on their crack.

[Full disclosure: Johnson graciously sent me a copy of the demo for propaganda purposes.]