Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Bestir - 2016 - Awaken

Bestir is a four piece doom infused grindcore band from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Members have also played in Thorazine, Death Toll Rising,The Dead Cold, WAKE, Exit Strategy, Into Eternity, Untimely Demise, Disciples of Power, West of Hell, Villianizer and Section VIII. Awaken is their debut EP under the Bestir name. Formed in 2015 with the express intent of marrying doom metal intensity with the unrestrained aggression and chaos of grindcore. In practice that means epic doom metal soundscapes that transform in the blink of an eye into nailbomb like grindcore spitting riffs in every direction.



Bestir can clearly play both black metal and grindcore with aplomb there is not enough melding of the two. There are grindcore parts and doom metal parts and while this EP is fascinating it is not reinventing the wheel, simply placing two disparate genres right next to each other. This is an intriguing debut, from the opening bestial screams of The Lies That Bind to the closing moments of chaos of The Bewildered Herd there is never a boring moment. If you are into either doom metal or grindcore Bestir's Awaken EP is an excellent first step.