专辑乐评：PEELING FLESH《The G Code》

翻译、配图：許柏林 源文：Metal Injection Album Review: PEELING FLESH The G Code 随着残忍Slam死亡金属（brutal slamming death metal）不断从传统死亡金属的正统框架中演化为一种独立形态，Peeling Flesh（血肉剥离）成为了嘻哈与Slam交汇处的奇异缩影。他们并非首个将街头潮流、金牙、采样等元素引入Slam的乐队，但这个来自俄克拉荷马州的五人团体立志要证明一件事：“Slam就是匪帮说唱。” 他们的确像街头混混那样拼命干活——短短三年内发布了超过 30 首作品。而《Slamaholics Vol. 2（Slam狂热II）》的发行标志着他们真正的转折点，Peeling Flesh 找到了让采样式 beatdown 音乐更胜一筹的手法。在这个说唱与金属融合可能成为 Candiria 那样精彩，也可能像 Vanilla Ice那样失败，这帮人用半音闷音（chromatic chugs）、马桶人声（toilet vocals）和匪帮式气场开辟出一条独特道路。《The G Code（代码G /街头法则）》正是在《Slamaholics》的基础上延续而来，充满粘腻的律动、精挑细选的采样，还有杀气腾腾的mosh riff。 在Slam警察找上门之前，我们先说明一点：Peeling Flesh 并不符合最纯粹定义下的“正统 slam”。他们具备典型特征——Damonteal Harris的嗓音像是坏掉的洗碗机，军鼓声音像躲避球砸地板，还有万能的手掌闷音强力和弦——但其他风格的影响同样一目了然。 比如，《Intro》里的第一个BKD就深受早期死核影响，而《Shoot 2 Kill（射为杀）》中的颤音（tremelo）段落在真正的Slam狂热者眼里可能是大忌。但音乐如果能直接把你锤爆，那还有啥好争的？他们的音乐就是为“打人”而生，再加上来自 E-A-SKI 等匪帮说唱传奇的 chopped-up 采样，让他们更从千篇一律的闷音乐队中脱颖而出。通过加倍强化地下嘻哈的美学与音乐口味，Peeling Flesh 把原始暴力提升到了能让你抖屁股的程度。 说到地下嘻哈，Peeling Flesh 并没有找当红艺人合作，而是请来了本地 DJ MRD 为《Perc 3000（猛药三千）》提供了致命Scratch。结果正是所有人梦寐以求的“Scratch+重音乐”组合。他也许只是比其他 DJ 更懂金属节奏，也有可能是因为他的beats就是与众不同。他在氛围插曲《FULL OF LEAD（满身弹孔）表现与主打Slam的肮脏质感完美契合，甚至让人希望能听到他做完整张Tape。更关键的是，这首插曲自然过渡到了《SKIN BLUNT（人皮雪茄皮）》的Beatdown、爆点和三连击节奏，充分说明：Peeling Flesh 并不是试图“融合” Slam 与说唱，他们本身就是这种存在，把两个风格都带到了不常见的酷炫领域。 如今Slam metal 与Beatdown Hardcore的界线越来越模糊，Peeling Flesh 也不忘拉来最狠的圈内人合作。《Concrete Curb Enforcement（硬地执法）》就请来了英国暴徒乐队Cold Hard Truth的Tim Louth。这首歌的疯狂程度毫无悬念，Louth 带着酒吧流氓的气势加入战斗riff，但就像优秀的说唱歌手那样，Peeling Flesh 从不让合作嘉宾掩盖住他们本身的杀伤力。 你完全可以想象《Barbarianism（野蛮主义）》既能让硬核兄弟在场边互殴，也能让喝醉的欧洲怪人在Obscene Extreme音乐节里莫名其妙跳起。Mychal Soto和 Jason Parrish 写的 riff 能满足所有类型Slammer的需求，而Joe Pelleter输出的律动精准无比。即使是讨厌Slam的人，也不得不承认这玩意确实洗脑。这种对 groove 的天赋，也许正是为什么他们能如此自然地把采样和loop融进音乐中的原因。 以混音带的风格为核心，Peeling Flesh毫不避讳在曲长上玩出变化。从短短一分钟的《The Fuckening（操蛋化）》，到长达五分钟的同名主打曲，这张专辑始终保持着澎湃的动能。邀请 Cerebral Incubation 的 Andrew LoMastro 为《The Fuckening》献上标志性的“马桶吼”堪称神来之笔，而《The G Code》则请来 Despised Icon 的双人组合 Alex 和 Steve 助阵，同样惊艳。他们分别代表了纯正的Slam与Slamming死核，也充分展示出：只要掌握方法，这种类型的音乐可以拥有极强的可塑性与表现力。 “Fuck your house bitch / this section 8” 这一句，就像其他Pre-breakdown采样一样（居然来自“忍者龟黑人恶搞配音”）让人笑出声，也正是这种态度让《The G Code》从头到尾都如此出色。Peeling Flesh哥几个玩得很开心，这一点在他们音乐里展露无遗。他们就是想把最狠的breaks和最暴力的 slam 玩在一起，而他们也确实做到了。 如果这就是SLAM的新面貌，那么该流派正在迎来一次期盼已久的蜕变！ 一些歌名Research： Perc：是Percocet，一种处方止痛药，含有羟考酮 + 对乙酰氨基酚的简称； Lead（铅） 在街头俚语中常常指 子弹（因为子弹中含铅） 所以Full of Lead 可以理解为：“被子弹打成筛子” “满身弹孔” 原文： As brutal slamming death metal continues to evolve as an entity outside the confines of death metal orthodoxy, Peeling Flesh comes as the epitome of a strange cross-section of hip-hop and slam. The proliferation of streetwear, grills, and samples in slam isn't new, but this Oklahoma quintet has set out to prove one thing: "Slam is gangsta rap." They certainly hustle like gangstas, with over 30 tracks dropped in only three years. But the release of Slamaholics Vol. 2 became a real turning point, where Peeling Flesh dialed in their sample-laden beatdown in a way that sounded miles ahead of the crowd. In a world where rap/metal crossovers can be as awesome as Candiria, or as misguided as Vanilla Ice, these guys have carved out a niche of chromatic chugs, toilet vocals, and thuggish swagger. To that effect, The G Code essentially picks up where Slamaholics left off, with sticky grooves, choice samples, and life-ending fight riffs of the hardest order. Before the slam police pull up, let's establish that Peeling Flesh isn't "true slam" by the purest standard. All of the hallmarks are there — like Damonteal Harris' vocals (customarily sounding like a broken dishwasher), snare drums that sound like dodge balls, and the all-mighty palm-muted power chord — but the outside influences are easy to spot. For instance, the first breakdown of "Intro" owes a lot to old-school deathcore, and the tremolos in "Shoot 2 Kill" are a cardinal sin for the truly insufferable slamoholic. But does it really matter if the music beats ass? These guys know how to make music for physically assaulting people, and the fact it comes packed with chopped-up samples from gangsta rap legends like E-A-SKI only serves to separate them from the sea of generic chuggers. By doubling down on underground hip-hop aesthetics and musical flavors, Peeling Flesh elevates that caveman energy to booty-shaking territory. Speaking of underground hip-hop, Peeling Flesh didn't try to collaborate with a hot ticket artist, instead bringing a local cat DJ MRD to provide lethal scratches on "Perc 3000." The result is what everyone wished turntablists would do with heavy music. Maybe it's because he knows how to navigate the genre better than other DJs, but perhaps it's also because his beats just hit different. His work on the atmospheric interlude "FULL OF LEAD" matches the dirty vibe of the slams, to the point where it begs for a full tape in this vein. More importantly, it flows perfectly into the beatdowns, blasts, and triplet flows of "SKIN BLUNT." It just goes to show that Peeling Flesh isn't so much trying to combine slam with rap. They simply are, and it brings both genres into uncommon regions of awesomeness. With slam metal and beatdown hardcore crossing streams more and more often, Peeling Flesh makes sure to grab the toughest folks in the game. In the case of "Concrete Curb Enforcement," they got Tim Louth from the UK brawlers Cold Hard Truth. It's about as unhinged as expected, as Louth brings that pub rat swagger into the fight riffs. But, like a good hip-hop artist, Peeling Flesh doesn't allow their collabs to overshadow their lethal delivery. The fact you can just as easily imagine HxC tough guys crowd-killing to "Barbarianism" as you would drunk Eurotrash inexplicably doing the Macarena at Obscene Extreme should say enough. Mychal Soto and Jason Parrish write riffs for slammers of all stripes, driven by Joe Pelleter's impeccable grooves. Even people who hate slam have to admit this stuff is catchy. Perhaps this knack for groove explains why it blends so well with the samples and loops. In mixtape fashion, Peeling Flesh doesn't shy away from varying song lengths. From the one-minute "The Fuckening" to the five-minute title track, this album never loses momentum. Having Andrew LoMastro (Cerebral Incubation) bring his brand of toilet vocals to the former was a stroke of genius, as was grabbing Despised Icon's dynamic duo Alex and Steve for the latter. Respectively embodying pure slam and slamming deathcore, they show how versatile a band can be in this form if they know what they're doing. To that effect, "CREEPIN OUT THE CUT" brings the crowd-pleasing mosh parts in tandem with gravity blasts as dirty as they are tight. Does the song need Matti Way to stand? No. Does his vocal spot hit just right? As much as the ominous synths and rap cadences that land the track. This band has slam down to science and certainly know how far to push its boundaries while retaining its savage core. "Fuck your house bitch/ this section 8" comes off about as funny as the other pre-breakdown samples (from the "N***a Turtles" dub no less), and that's really what makes The G Code great from "INTRO" to "OUTRO." Peeling Flesh is having fun, and it shows. This band set out to have a great time combining the hardest breaks with the hardest slams and absolutely delivered. If this is the new face of slam, the genre's in for a much-needed face-lift.