Vinyl Review: "Village Creep" by Leechfeast

Village Creep EP

It's been a little while since, but a band came along and into my emails by the name of Leechfeast.

If you're listening to The Dumb and Dumbest Podcast, perhaps you heard the episode with The Angry Metal Guy where he talked about hating to do negative reviews.

He discussed how he and his team (aka all of us in the metal blogging universe as well) choose their albums to review.

In the end, for us it's a lot like, just shopping. We know the PR firms, the labels, the genres, etc.

As he said, we want to like what we review. We don't ever want to hit anyone with a negative review.

So, this Leechfeast album hits my orbit. It didn't get my blood moving. It was bizarre.It was lethargic and the songs were amorphous. Essentially, there were four very large amoebas going basically wherever they wanted to.

The strange thing isn't that I didn't like it, that's a pretty regular occurrence. Unlike The Angry Metal Guy, if I don't like something, I just move on to the next one. Typically I go through five albums before picking one.

So, why in the world did I continue listening to this album that didn't work for me?

Well, this is when I'd tell you about this label or that PR firm or whatever, but there wasn't a strong connection. It wasn't a favor to anyone or anything like that. (Sometimes albums are chosen as favors.)

Maybe it was the cool cover art or just a strong belief that this was going to click for me.

In the end I was right.

Flash forward however many years/months/days/decaphebes it's been since that review, because in my hand is the follow up to that bizarrely brilliant record: Village Creep EP.

First off, that's a great title.

Second on: the cover art on this one is even better than before. The hyena on the rock is honestly terrifying. Unlike the previous effort, there's nothing esoteric or metaphorical on this sleeve.

It's a fairly accurate representation of what's contained therein as well.

The Leechfeast writing style is...shall we say a bit more refined. In the past, we had abstract art and here we have a couple of cubist paintings.

Whether that's a progression or a regression is up to the individual listener.

Neon Crosses consisted of four tracks that weren't really tracks. They were four times someone hit record on a console and the result of a band wandering in the desert.

Neither track on Village Creep EP has that sort of sound or dynamic.

This record has two, maybe one, Black Sabbath songs, but nothing along the lines of War Pigs or Iron Man, more like Black Sabbath or Who Are You?.

The difference is that Leechfeast decided to slow those tracks down without making any other sort of changes. So, if you're looking for progressive metal, you've certainly found it.

If you're looking for an obviously coherent record showcasing flamboyant musicianship, well, you will likely be disappointed.

Leechfeast has chosen to write and craft original songs instead of a free form stream of consciousness.

Is it different?

Yes.

Is it better?

Also yes.

Perhaps it's my having made a previous acquaintance with the band, but Village Creep hits me right away. It hits hard for me.

It's hard to say what makes this such a resonant batch of songs for me. Maybe it's the warbling guitars, the seven to eight seconds between drum beats, or the affected vocals, but it's something.

The real thing though, maybe everything I've said since my story telling you about Leechfeast is totally wrong. Maybe it's like when I spend time in Mexico...

By day three I can't tell you if I'm hearing English or Spanish or which one I'm speaking. Maybe they have just indoctrinated me into their cult.

Maybe it's best to stay away.

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