Remember when The body was just two of the dudes from Duck Dynasty with M-15’s and songs about bloodletting in the Appalachian wilderness? It was simple, brutal: the product of two madmen cooped up in a cabin. As The body began to embrace the wider world of experimental metal (and everything Portland has to offer), delivering progressively more punishing bodies of work, they also collaborated more. Their signature cacophony molds seamlessly with whoever they’re working with, be it Thou or The Haxan Cloak.
Vampillia is another group that brews a similar blend of auditory Agent Orange, albeit with a slightly longer shopping list at Guitar Center. The 10-member “brutal orchestra” has a collaborative record to rival The Body’s own, including works with Lustmord, Mu-siq, and Nadja. On “chikatilo,” the first widely available track from their collaborative release xoroAHbin (which doesn’t seem to be available anywhere except torrent sites), the collaborative dynamic is sways towards Vampillia’s scattered electronics, and Chip’s vocals are buried under smoke. It’s always fascinating to see how two wildly disparate acts account for their stylistic differences on record, and this song punishes in the all the right areas of my tortured psyche.
• The Body: https://thebody.bandcamp.com
• Vampillia: http://vampillia.com
