MÜTHERLOAD - Ü (EP)

MÜTHERLOAD

EP: Ü

Genre: Groove / Thrash / Death Metal

Release Date: July 9th, 2021

Country: Canada

Label: Self-Released

Band-Links: BANDCAMP / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK

First impression of MÜTHERLOAD because of the cover artwork? Serious craziness – and I’m intrigued at once. Since an initial listen and the video for “The Visitor” confirmed this, here we go with a few thoughts about their debut EP “Ü”, which is set to release for July 9th, 2021. The quintet is heading from Canada and impressively shows that sometimes, our paths are meant to be crossed with one another more than once in this lifetime. Guitarist Patrick Davison and drummer Matt Ashton hadn’t seen each other after their previous band HEAVEN ABLAZE went on hiatus in 2013, but met again by chance on their day job in 2019. The magic of writing songs together came back pretty soon, more band members joined with bassist Chris McKichan, guitarist Derek Haley as well as vocalist Derek Lee, and MÜTHERLOAD was born.

Lyric-wise, they draw inspiration from life and its atrocities. Musically speaking, they introduce themselves with a blast, offering a high-energetic mix of groove, thrash and death metal. The opening track “Insect” comes along heavy but still melodic, and it’s obvious from the beginning that they won’t make any prisoners. “The Visitor” and “Iniquity” are my favorites on “Ü”, as they bring in even more groovy riffs and a hard-hitting, yet varied rhythmic. Derek Lee is a beast on vocals, delivering an incredible power and the needed aggression to the music. With the “title track” and “Thaügüst” being short, acoustic guitar interplays that give beautiful moments to rest, we’ve already reached the great finale, “Lamia”, which has some interesting twists and turns in mood and tempo.

With four songs, two interludes and 16:30 minutes of playing time, “Ü” is a rather short, but mind-blowing listen, worth to crank it up. Serious musicianship meets full power vocals and a certain craziness, which is a great combination for me. Considering their founding story I can only confirm: these guys really know how to write music together. Let’s hope this EP is the delicious appetizer for an album to follow.

Written by Katha