With a defiance that feels like it wants to take on the evils of the entire world, Spiders Sting Harder Than Their Masters, by Moroccan deathgrind band Tombstone, favours destruction over submission.
With just four tracks, this EP comes in at just over 15 minutes, making for an easy listening experience. However, this introduces a risk. With a shorter timeframe, bands might not be able to connect with the audience or fully express their sound. That is not the case here, though. Tombstone uses this length to their advantage, with a cohesive theme and sound that runs through every track like a thread.
Each song features an otherworldly segment, with metallic and industrial noises hinting at their grindcore influences. Incredibly symbolic, it suggests that evil isn’t born; it is designed and entrenched in societal structures. It correlates them to the might of olden-day gods, calling them evil in their dominion and thereby expressing an intense urge to take away their control.
Track 1, “Tombstone,” exudes a sinister energy that feels like it belongs in a horror movie, particularly for the first 20 seconds. A nightmarish hellscape is painted with church bells ringing, loud footsteps pounding on gravel, metallic doors opening, and a minimalist, eerie string of notes. These elements deliberately build suspense and create a spooky atmosphere, setting the tone for each song to come.
All of a sudden, everything speeds up. Guitars and drums come in blazing, making everything all the more urgent. Cymbals chime periodically, adding to the pace and contributing to the metallic feel. What makes this track intriguing is that it establishes the EP’s identity without any vocals. And just like that, the fast energy abruptly stops, and things slow down in an instant. This immediate disconnect is an element incorporated into every track, putting listeners on edge and contributing to a sense of uneasiness.
When it comes to the following two tracks, there are strong parallels in their themes and structures. Their debut single, “I Am Chaos,” which sits at Track 2, charges full steam ahead from the get-go. Unlike the previous one, it only injects a sliver of those eerie notes just before the menacing riffs. Aissam El Hassani has it covered when it comes to vocals, with incredibly guttural lows and the genre’s trademark coarseness. Known for being incredibly challenging, death growls can also be found in this track – a term that, funny enough, is widely known as Cookie Monster vocals due to their similarity to a Sesame Street character’s voice.
In this instance, El Hassani is positioned as an entity older than the gods and time itself, curating this image of himself as chaos incarnate – someone who cannot be controlled or contained. He continues this lyrical trend in “True Evil.” In this instance, he sings about how Ares carved him from “marrow and warfire,” but wishes to discard him upon his creation. Ultimately, he was the consequence of their actions, situating the gods as evil and hypocritical, with himself as a correction to their divine arrogance.
As a result, he “tore the sky open” and “let them choke on their own worship.” He also places these within an almost mathematical context, calling the evil structures of these gods “recursion incarnate,” suggesting he is here to balance the equation – to take down these unfair systems and stabilise them accordingly.
“Spiders Sting Harder Than Their Masters” (ft. Ryan Coby) has all the qualities associated with a closing track. It introduces the same chilling atmospheric intro, emulating “Tombstone.” This time, however, there is the sound of something being dragged, scraping against the floor. But then there is the all-encompassing pressure that builds as the drums hit harder and faster than before.
A track with a title of even more symbolic significance, this one tackles the question of power. For instance, it could imply that power isn’t inherently in the hands of the “master,” but rather lies with those who are figuratively small and mistreated, like a spider. If they choose to, they can fight back or sting those who sit at the top, bringing them down a peg.
Tight and well formulated, Spiders Sting Harder Than Their Masters is an EP that is deathgrind through and through. From the mythology-rich lyrics to the heavy intensity of the sound itself, everything about this EP is curated to transport us to a mystical, almost unearthly place. However, upon listening, one finds that this magical place is full of chaos and conflict, as two forces rage against each other: one fighting for its continued control and privilege, the other wanting to tear it all down in the hope of creating a better reality.
