Review Summary: Hanged, drawn and quartered.
Pyrrhon are about as close to abstract art as metal gets at this point in time. Their breed of perturbation has been the masturbation material of many, and the discarded waste of even more. Their sound is harsh, uncensored, and somewhat diverging in the metal community. With
Running Out Of Skin, the band aren't out to change that. This EP is as terrifyingly obscure as anything the band has released so far, but unfortunately it's most structured element proves to be it's biggest downfall.
"Statistic Singular" meddles in the atonal fury that is expected of Pyrrhon for the first 3 minutes, but none of it is particularly interesting when compared to earlier work. It repeats the issues found on
Growth Without End; atonal meddling is given stronger precedence in a song than any semblance of cohesion, which is what made the band's two full-lengths so enjoyable. This is rather unfortunate as the second half of the song is considerably more focused than the first half, and could stand alone as a brilliant, twisted yet united track. Following "Statistic Singular" is two improvisational tracks. The band's performances on both are in top form, and the songs manage to sound individual, even through all of the abstruse noise. Though only 30 seconds, "Ashes To Alveoli" proves to be the highlight of the EP as it captures all of the chaos within the release without throwing in too many ideas. "Motivational Speaker II" is filled to the brim with ideas, but the band manages to tie together the track into identifiable segments through some surprisingly dynamic playing. However, it is filled with an enormous amount of overly-scratchy playing in the second half, and ends up suffering from the same issues that "Statistic Singular" had. Closer "Crystal Mountain" came as an odd yet welcome surprise as every second is drizzled with Pyrrhon, but the original song isn't compromised as a result. It is definitely one of the stranger Death covers out there, but it is executed very well and balances out atonality with the song's melodies quite well.
There is no doubting that this will appeal to Pyrrhon fans because there aren't too many bands that so consistently reach such harsh extremities. In comparison with the band's LPs however, it becomes quite apparent that the desire for pushing the envelope is starting to outweigh the need for solid songwriting. Clustered segments are longer and faster than ever, but the build-ups are almost non-existent. The addition of a cover definitely gave
Running Out Of Skin some breathing space, but it isn't enough to counter just how unapologetic the mess of "Statistic Singular"'s first and "Motivational Speaker II"'s second halves are. It's the insanity we have come to expect, performed with ironic precision. But often times, the sadistic levels of esoteric rage are akin to being hanged, drawn and quartered for petty crime. All the testosterone, none of the escalation.
