[The Baboon is growing! And not just by eating a pile of burgers every day. No, sir. Today marks the first contribution of yet another new writer and contributor of good taste and heavy attitude. Today Havik Incarnate introduces us to an unsigned Swedish band he regularly listens to: Mudpusher! Apparently it helps a lot if your cranium isn’t hurting!]

Let’s face it. Scouting for good bands these days that have the potential to kick your ass so fast that you wouldn’t even feel it for the first few seconds & power-slam you back home, has become more of an undertaking than the enjoyable experience that it used to be eons ago. No wonder, when artistic integrity is based on skinny jeans, power-ranger-like visages and racoon fringes. All that changed for me however, when I stumbled across Mudpusher.

This audible bulldozer was conceived in 2008 in Sweden. Originally jamming under the name ‘Coffincrawler’, the band’s initial music could best be described as a Doom Metal nucleus, cloaked in layers of death. However the band always retained a fond love for groovy, rhythmic music, influenced by bands such as Fear Factory, Chimaira and Soulfly. And thus the same year they released Redefine the Direction of Mankind. This was soon followed by yet another release to close off the year, namely Interest of Conflict.

2009 however proved to be a year of massive friction, as they started to struggle with their line-up, which lead to them parting with their members which eventually lead them to take the entire year off.

However like a resistant, resilient motherfucker, they took the bull by the horns and made a comeback in 2010, re-loaded and re-fuelled. Their latest work, an as of yet untitled demo, retains the elements of their previous efforts, in the sense that their sound is still raw and relentless. And even though they had to use programmed drums, they haven’t loosened up one damn bit. Frontman and vocalist Alex Nordqvist still retains his ‘on top of a freight train with a .45 strapped, with a fist in the air and a finger to the sky’ attitude and leads the charge valiantly, while the inclusion of Kimberley Hinson’s clean vocals even out the rage, by showcasing sincerity and a burning desire to make you believe and empower you . The chugging of Fredrik Skoglund (guitars), Robert Peterson (guitars) and Martin Thollander (bass, programming) on the other hand feel like a hammer smashing against your cranium, every strike fuelled by dedication and power.

But there’s more to the band than just sounding pissed off. The lyrical matter is by no means a wallowing in self pity tirade about your girlfriend kicking you out of the house for being a slob. Process to Demoralise is about the segregation of society, where politicians hide and neglect people in need in ghettos, and the lack of trust in one’s government. Free Yourself on the other hand, spits forth venom at the religious groups trying to mould society. Its anthemic nature is a plead for people to fight and resist.

With all the songs that Mudpusher has posted so far since their beginnings and up until 2010, I think it’s safe to say that the band hasn’t blown their load in two songs. This is a band that doesn’t pigeonhole itself in a specific scene or clique. They don’t need any gimmicks to reach out to a crowd. They don’t care about being the next Meshuggah, as typically expected of a Swedish band. This is a band that follows its own rules. And it’s damn well comfortable in its own shoes. Like I once heard “Heavy and brutal. Just like your mom.”

Tags: death, Djent, industrial, melodic, Swedish

This entry was posted on Friday, November 4th, 2011 at 10:00 am and is filed under Music Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.