Review by Xephyr for Phyllomedusa - Beast of the East (2017)

The Puerto Rican Coquí Is The Loudest Frog In The World

Maryland based Frog Metal master Phyllomedusa is back yet again for their 22nd full length and slimy release which strays away from the Gorenoise they're known for and opts for a sludgier, but just as abrasively loud experience. I'm not exactly sure if there are any amount of different notes happening in this 33 minute amphibious journey, but there are some sort of rhythms that kind of resemble riffs played behind an extremely compressed and loud drum kit. Even though the loudness causes some serious production issues of sounds getting cut out from compression I can't deny that the chug is real on this album. The same note that chugs repeatedly over the course of the album hits much like the 7 pound Goliath Bullfrog crushing the soil beneath its webbed feet. The only variation in this slippery offering comes from tempo changes, the occasional ending fake-out, and a surprising bass solo with almost normal sounding drums at the end of "Inhabiting This Breadth Where Others Are Abscent, Where the Avoidance Is Grand", which leaves much to be desired from this viscous assortment of tracks, even though the heft is undeniable. The vocals are fittingly croaky however, with Phyllomedusa paying homage their amphibious overlords by using frog croaks akin to the mighty American Bullfrog on a warm summer's night, perched on a strong lily pad amidst the algae covered pond. These coupled with normally growled vocals, sometimes in harmony, offer a slightly awful but fitting sound to go along with the riffing. 

Due to the less than stellar production and overall loudness its honestly hard to tell where the drums, bass, and guitar start or end, which turns out to be part of the overall experience of Beast of the East. Even though nothing in this album is particularly good, it has a certain charm to it just from the caecilian backstory behind all this. Being more sludgy and almost Doom Metal-like, it shows some serious growth from Phyllomedusa's normal Gorenoise output. Although he has been releasing all sorts of small projects and albums for seven years before Beast of the East, Phyllomedusa seemed to still be lacking many of the larval stage features such as rhythm, song structure, or melody. Although the ear shattering loudness destroys much of the ability to see growth, it's clear that the development of the midbrain and forebrain have began to catch up to the current stage of metamorphosis Phyllomedusa finds himself at. 

It's incredible to see the dedication that this Maryland amphibian has for this bizarre subsection of noise and metal that only he himself is currently populating. By rigorously producing 267 albums dedicated to our slippery and slimy friends he is slowly but surely working his way towards having a similar amount of albums compared to the 8,000 or more eggs the common toad lays in one clutch. Since frogs lay thousands of eggs in order to ensure a few survive, Phyllomedusa is working under a similar mantra by releasing tens of albums and EP's a year to ensure that not all of his hard work will be gobbled up violently by curious and angry music critics. So even though Beast of the East is just a distorted and fuzzy mess of croaks and other assorted guitar noises, I have to give credit where credit is due for dedication to the amphibian craft and attempting something slightly out of his comfort zone. It will be interesting to see where his music will evolve to next with so many frog related tidbits yet to be explored. Personally I'll be patiently waiting for the Gorenoise ballad piece honoring the Egyptian frog-goddess of fertility.