Zebadiah Crowe – Lych Milk – EP Review

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Lych Milk is a companion piece to Zebadiah Crowe‘s The Cloven Hand EP (2020) and while The Cloven Hand featured 3 Zebadiah Crowe tracks remixed by Seething Akira and Gods Or Ruin, the 3 tracks found on Lych Milk are all Zebediah Crowe’s own work….and what a short sharp shock to the system they are!

Lych Milk itself lasts just shy of 11 minutes but despite being rather short, it definitely leaves it’s mark. It’s fair to say that Lych Milk is firmly rooted in black metal territory – with screeching vocals, wild guitars, and a frantic pace all playing their part. However, drum programming (handled by vocalist/bassist ‘The Horrid’) adds an industrial air to proceedings and, in a peculiar way, tidies up the sound and brings a semblance of order to the chaos.

This is best demonstrated in opening track, “Gallows Wood”. After a particularly eerie voice intro, the music kicks off apace and it is here that Zebadiah Crowe’s industrial sound is at it’s strongest. Think of a faster, more evil Fear Factory, but without any of the melody or Burton’s vocal range.

“Sabbaticus” follows and is the strongest track on the EP. While it may reverting to a ‘purer’ black metal sound, the drums still keep that industrial feel, accompanied by a quickened tempo and blast beats aplenty. “Footprints” then rounds things off nicely and is the fastest and most brutal track on the EP.

Full of menace, Lych Milk is a nasty, dark, unrelenting piece from start to finish and while industrial black metal may fuel the gears, elements of harsh grind and even a little thrash metal – or at least the harder end of that genre – also play their part and it all gels together beautifully (if such a description can be applied here).

As we mentioned earlier, Zebadiah Crowe’s Lych Milk is an over-all-too-quick, short sharp shock to the nervous system…..and it’s all the more powerful for it! 7.5/10

Released on February 5th 2021.

Tracklisting:

1. Gallow’s Wood
2. Sabbaticus
3. Footprints

Line-up:

• The Horrid – Vocals, bass, drum programming
• Forrrthen – Guitars