Carved Up may or may not be named after a classic Hypocrisy cut, but make no mistake, this Philly post-sludge trio is all about the almighty riff, mixing math-rock guitars and caustic sludge screams all over this record.
To wit, “We Built Riff City” starts off on a roll with some vicious stop-start riffage anchoring the raw-leather, Mike IX style screams, before taking a bit of a downtuned detour down Melvins Ave. “Riffer Phoenix” doesn’t stand by for long, immediately erupting into an up-tempo jaunt punctuated with jagged math-rock riffs. “The Riffer Wild” runs deep with a pounding backbeat beneath some rushing riffage, while “Mystic Riffer” is calmer, but still slightly unsettling.
OK, so there’s a handful of tunes here that don’t have Riff or Riffer in ‘em, but they’ve still got some nice riffs, too.
