EP 2013

The first thing that is noticeable about this extremely short release is how crushingly heavy it is. Opening immediately with a full-on assault of chuggy riffs and deranged drum fills, this EP is very characteristic of Distillator, but is actually quite different from the rest of their discography. This is because the general sound is much more punk-oriented. The mix is raw, with a very gritty guitar tone and slightly cleaner vocals than the following debut album. These songs are very catchy, and are a gratifying mix of raging fast sections and more mid-tempo, groovy parts that make the tracks more memorable and distinguishable. Despite this, I think that the EP is too formulaic and would benefit from more developed songwriting.

Unexpected technicality is present on the eponymous second song, which features some very interesting, slower riffs that border on melodic and chromatic simultaneously. As a result, the EP is quite fresh-sounding, but still doesn't offer enough substantial content to be considered great. While the performances are all great, the record suffers from a lack of variation, and even though the songs are quite layered in their transitions between sections, they do tend to blend together and become quite an unfocused, unrewarding listen. However, the music present on this EP isn't bad, but rather executed in a flawed way. Despite very polished production, Distillator's debut EP is little more than decent.