10 Albums That Inspired All Pigs Must Die's "Hostage Animal"
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Four years feels like an eternity in hardcore years, but mosh never goes out of style. Despite not releasing new music for the length between World Cups, metallic hardcore superfriends All Pigs Must Die haven’t aged a day. It helps that the band — featuring members of Bloodhorse, The Hope Conspiracy, Converge, and the new addition of Trap Them’s Brian Izzi — have always written with only complete ass-kicking in mind.
Sure, they’ve gotten better at it, learning how to play better with pace on God Is War and upping the technical threshold on Nothing Violates This Nature, but the goal has always been the same: knock the wind out of the listener and never let them catch their breath. Their upcoming album Hostage Animal carries on this fine tradition, but features some wonderful surprises in the midst of the brutality.
To help explain where their new tricks came from, the band broke down ten albums that inspired their newest collection of pit anthems. Stream the title track from Hostage Animal and read the band’s thoughts on their influences below.
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Hostage Animal is out October 27th via Southern Lord. Follow All Pigs Must Die on Facebook here.
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Several of the more melodic harmonies and passages on Hostage Animal owe a good deal to Nattens Madrigal. The layered, and at times conflicting guitar work creates a hauntingly beautiful and shifting undercurrent throughout this record. The idea of moving in opposing directions within a single container applies to several aspects of Hostage Animal, so it’s all the more fitting we take that from in a band that ultimately did the same within its own catalog.
— Adam Wentworth (guitar)
This record (their whole catalog, really) is basically a clinic in awesome riffs. Both the guitar playing and drumming are really unique, and they just never let up. The blending of styles is seamless, and basically every song on this is a home run. If you ever need to get re-excited about heavy metal, this is the place to start. We were all able to see them last summer at Hellfest and they were so good.
— AW
Widely considered the birth of doom metal, this record is a “less is more” blueprint for how much the space in between the notes can make a riff that much heavier. Even the more uptempo riffs on Psalm 9 exist in a simplicity that is absolutely savage. There’s no fat on anything, and it all lands hard. Parts of Hostage Animal reek of Psalm 9. Heavy, heavy metal at it’s finest.
— AW
SoniCRIME looms pretty large over Hostage Animal. Even in relation to the rest of their catalog, it is an intensely dark and savage album. It feels all over you and the way their influences are incorporated is incredible. G.I.S.M. sounds like the perfect blend of Bathory, Venom and Poison Idea at this point in their lifespan. I think this line-up of Sakevi, Randy Uchida, Ironfist Tatsushima and Kiichi would have produced even more bangers but unfortunately that wasn’t to be. Hugely inspirational for its torrential riffage and overall sense of suffocating intensity.
Randy Uchida RIP.
— Matt Woods (bass)
There would be no All Pigs Must Die without our shared love of all things Craft. While everything they have recorded is essential, Fuck The Universe is a masterpiece. Incredibly nasty, sinister riffs meet impeccable songwriting. They’re never dull and the recurring ideas and hooks are consistently strong. Buy, steal or borrow immediately for a how-to guide to making heavy music.
— MW
This album is a progressive marathon of unorthodox time signatures, god-mode musicianship and blazing solos on every instrument you can think of. If you were to ever find yourself in need of some inspiration to further hone your musical craft, this record might actually make you quit playing altogether.
— Ben Koller (drums)
The final LP in the “classic era” of Integrity. Dwid and the Melnick brothers really went out in a blaze of apocalyptic glory with this one. Everything an Integrity fan loved about the band is fully realized with this release. The riffs are killer and Dwid’s voice is in top form. Also the record never outstays it’s welcome. It leaves you wanting more. The song “Heaven Inside Your Hell” is like listening to Tom Waits on a bad acid trip.
— Kevin Baker (vocals)
This is one of the best examples of 80’s crossover. Musically these guys go for the throat. The catchiness of the tight metal riffing mixed with the speed of punk and hardcore is absolutely killer. The vocal delivery is pissed and most importantly NO CLEAN SINGING!!! This is the sort of classic thrash LP I can listen to again and again and never grow tired of.
— KB
This psychedelic death metal nightmare was a big inspiration in the vocal department. They have an amazing atmospheric and unhinged quality to them that elevates the music. They still sound somewhat human which is so much more effective than sounding like an orc, ogre or monster. There is nothing worse than a vocalist that screams all over every inch of a song and this is a great example of the opposite approach. Less is more and the music is so much more powerful because of it.
— KB
This is a bonafide classic and endless source of inspiration for APMD. After the roughly 25 second industrial intro the listener is pummeled by the band. Instruments as weapons; an effect we incorporate throughout our catalog and especially on Hostage Animal. Lyrically it is a statement of human alienation and hopelessness within a social and economic structure that crushes everyone and everything in its path. Max is humorless and direct in his vocal delivery which only makes it all the more brutal. No one gets out of here alive!
— KB
