EP Review: Plague Throat ”“ An Exordium to Contagion

Shillong death metal band Plague Throat

[easyreview cat1title = “An Exordium to Contagion” cat1rating = 3.5]

An Exordium to Contagion

On their debut four-track EP, An Exordium to Contagion, Shillong death metal band Plague Throat prove why they’ve always been the ones to watch out for on the underground metal scene since they started gigging exactly on this day, five years ago ”“ 8th August, 2008.

More recently, they ventured out of Shillong for their first gig in Bengaluru at the second edition of underground metal gig Dis-organized in December last year. The fact is Plague Throat needs to be heard by a wider audience for their brand of brutal death metal. Bands from the North East have a knack for being super tight, and Plague Throat is no different. They run through four songs in 15 minutes full of riffs to make your teeth grind and drumming to give you restless feet syndrome long after the songs are over.

Guitarist Nangsan Lyngwa and bassist Iaidon Jyrwa mash the brutal stylings of American death metallers Origin with slower, doom elements on the opening song, “The Pretentious and the Deceived.” The band’s drummer Malice aka Dolreich Bianglang Kharmawphlang keeps coming back after every pause, bettering each drum roll with another.

An Exordium to Contagion is divided between two short songs [“Present Chaos” and “Burn” clocking in at less than three minutes] and longer songs [like “The Pretentious and the Deceived” and the five-minute EP closer “Sinking Higher”]. Plague Throat are much better thrashing out snappier, in-your-face tracks than on their the longer ones. “Present Chaos” is bound to catch everyone’s ear, for its speed and decibel levels that make it sound like a massive moshpit-starter with a hint of melody [something the most brutal death metal scoffs at] to keep headbangers happy. The band tries to throw in as many elements on the death metal palette as possible on “Sinking Higher,” but it does sound unnecessarily long.

But if you’re a fan of riffs and need a fresh fix of death metal, Plague Throat’s EP is worth the listen. Like most promising metal bands, they haven’t gone all out with a full-length album [though a five-year existence would warrant that] but An Exordium to Contagion, packs in enough force to inspire anyone to get out there and watch the band unleash hell on stage. 

Plague Throat performs at Serene Atrocity alongside Insane Prophecy, Dead Calm Chaos, Still Status and more at U Soso Tham Auditorium, Shillong, on August 8th, 2013, from 1pm onward. Entry Rs 100. Event details here. 

Listen to “Sinking Higher” here. Buy An Exordium to Contagion via Incanned Productions.