Drugs Of Faith – Asymmetrical Review

Helmed by DC grind stalwart Richard Johnson (Enemy Soil, Agoraphobic Nosebleed), Drugs Of Faith has steadily cranked out some fun and ugly noise for over two decades now. Self-described as “grind ‘n’ roll,” this trio inhabits a middle ground between grindcore, hardcore, and noise rock, and this latest offering, Asymmetrical, lives up to its name by upsetting that balance heavily in favor of the latter.

Appropriately opening with “Opening,” which is literally just one hanging crash, Asymmetrical establishes those noise-rock tendencies immediately with the first real track, “Desert War Eternal” – discordant chords, savage rhythms, and Johnson’s disaffected bellow. “I’ve never liked anyone I’ve voted for!” he proclaims, his voice a raw-throated shout, removed from the death-inflected growling or screaming more typical of grindcore. “Whatever it takes to fulfill our destiny, to be the most PSYCHOTIC country! We will poison the earth and blacken the sky until none of us survive…” Man, must be something in the water there in DC, huh?

From there, it’s a rollicking ride through another twenty-ish minutes, with stabbing chords and chunkier punk riffs washed in a Duane Denison-esque needle-sharp tone, buoyed by Ivan Khilko’s gnarled bass clank and Ethan Griffith’s raging rhythms. There are only scant instances of tempos that approach blastbeating, another indication of the grindier edges being ground down, although that’s merely an observation and not intended as a criticism. One of Drugs Of Faith’s strengths has traditionally been in the application of noise-rock stylings inside what’s fundamentally a grindcore idiom, but they’ve always been good at the noise-rock, and so, while dedicated grinders may find Asymmetrical’s shift to be too much towards an AmRep / Jesus Lizard-style wallop vs., say, Corroded or the self-titled, that’s not to say that Asymmetrical is somehow lesser. Just less… sonically aggressive, even as it’s still emotionally raw.

Highlights come throughout – in the jaunty thump of “Divestment” or the swagger of “Gas Mask,” in the sociopolitical fury of “The Next 100 Years” (which even features acoustic guitars) and the epic strum that starts “Conspiratorial” before it spirals up into a punchier close. Given the extensive experience of its primary creative force, it’s little wonder that Drugs Of Faith is an angry band, but it’s both surprising that they can temper that rage into a record that’s more rock than the extremity from which it came, and that they can do it this well.

Those demanding a more grinding sound may find this lacking a certain level of spark, but that’s selling Asymmetrical short. It’s less angry, and yet it’s still angry; less metal, and yet still heavy; more noisy and more noise, Asymmetrical is a new Drugs for new days.