GRISTNAM - Even Less

haarp was one of the most interesting and often challenging metal bands I've heard in the last couple years. They're gone now but from the ashes comes Gristnam, which features members of both haarp and the former Omean, whom I'd never heard before. 'Even Less' is a vinyl collection of Gristnam's first two EP's unpretentiously titled 'release1' and 'release2' (see players below). The first one came out in 2013 and completely flew past me, I'd never even heard of it. The second EP just came out a couple days ago. Where haarp were mad scientists with Frankenstein's monster song structures and hairpin turns often ranging compositions past the 8 minute mark, Gristnam plays the role of the snatch-and-grab thief. 'Even Less' is made up of a total of 11 songs but fails to reach the half hour mark and none of the songs reach a full three and a half minutes. They make their point, forcefully and without apologies then get out before the ambulance arrives. This is metal very much of the Louisiana spirit, no subgenre labels on this one, they throw a lot of different looks at you, but this is just metal. Good metal. You can find both EP's on bandcamp by clicking through the links on the players below. If you want it on vinyl, pick it up here.