Baptists wear their influences on their collective sleeves, but the sleeves belong to a shirt that fits. One can't help but pinpoint the Converge and Botch worship throughout
Bushcraft, but it's done
really f
ucking aggressively with more d-beats and dissonant riffing than you could swing an axe at. Opener "Betterment" sets a tone of discomfort with feedback amidst sludge-laden diminished riffing. Ultimately (as with any metallic crust record) it transforms to an unrelenting, chaotic assault of breakdowns over the course of the entire album; the only respite comes in the form of the more downtempo/atmospheric "Still Melt" and "Soiled Roots". It must be said, more than the obviously pissed off, thematically bleak songwriting, drummer Nick Yacyshyn makes
Bushcraft what it is. His chops are front and center with technical fills and tasteful variation on the standard D-Beat formula on tracks like the ode to homogeneity of "Think Tank Breed" or the essentially polyrhythmic "Abandon". Interestingly enough, the latter calls to attention the brimming-with-hate
Abandon All Life by label-mates Nails - which will surely (unfairly) overshadow
Bushcraft with its pure unbridled destruction. While not entirely original or deserving of any genre superlatives, Baptists' debut LP is still a welcome addition to the recent crust revival by Southern Lord Records.
