This extended play was released on May 24^th, 2019 on Stay Sick Recordings.

Stay Sick Recordings has signed some of the hardest-hitting newcomers in the -core spectrum and has supplied banger after banger from their roster. In March, Extortionist released their album Sever the Cord to rave reviews and appeared to be heading to the top of the discussion regarding new and exciting metal. Out of nowhere, the band made an Instagram post telling listeners to pay attention, and a surprise extended play was available to be heard when May 24^th rolled around. Not only does this release shock everybody, but Extortionist is able to capitalize on their album with six more face-melting tracks that add to their impressive catalogue.

The EP was recorded with their previous guitarist McKay Rockwell, and the music isn’t all that much different from STC. The deathcore meets downtempo sludge-like sound makes a heavy appearance during the twenty-minute runtime, and blast beats and breakdowns are scattered all throughout the record. The pinch harmonics are also pretty prevalent on the record (“Dirty Hands” uses them frequently) and add a bit of a spark to counteract some of the slow-moving verses. Vocalist Ben Hoagland sounds just as fresh as ever, and his snarls are nasty, demonic, and downright evil. The cleans on the album are also very clear and performed well, giving off a very hard rock / nu-metal vibe. Now, as to whether or not I prefer them within in the context of the music, that’s a different story.

As far as originality goes, Self Titled doesn’t make any marks to challenge the boundaries of heavy -core. The elements of downtempo, sludge, and melodic death metal are audibly present, but even with all that can be combined using these benchmark genres, nothing really pushes the envelope. The most creative that the band gets is with their nu-metal inspired sections of clean singing on top of dirty guitar riffs (“Fill the Void” and “Dirty Hands” come to mind). It gives the album a bit of a Slipknot-esque vibe, and is akin to what current Whitechapel is embodying in their music. It isn’t a terrible thing, but after some of the more intense parts of the tracks, it’s a weird sense of relief, one I am not a huge fan of.

All in all, Self Titled isn’t anything that is going to change the landscape of metal music. It’s bouncy, sludgy, heavy, and a lot of other things, but although it is a very solid release, it isn’t genre-defining. Regardless of that statement, Extortionist put a lot of heart and soul into their craft, and it’s very evident that they were proud to release this EP. Will it stand the test of time with other SSR releases? At the rate they’re pumping out music, it’s hard to say. I think it has a chance to stay up there with the best of them.

Rating: 7/10

Favorite Songs: “Circle of Serpents”, “Forget Me”, “No Soul (Part II)”