The Pessimist
What can possibly be said aout this album that hasn't been said already by fans of the band? This is THE Pig Destroyer album; their magnus opus; their 7th Symphony; their masterpiece, and I conclusively consider this the greatest experimental grindcore album of the 21st century. As well as the pure creativity, energy, fantastic concept, outstanding musicianship and superb production (yes, this band doesn't have a bass player, and to make just drums, vocals and a single guitarist sound MORE powerful than most groups is a difficult task), this album has one thing a lot of albums struggle to achieve nowadays: grittiness. Yes, you have brutality and aggression (in essence, those things define grindcore), but to have an audience take your music seriously is a whole different skill altogether, and Prowler in the Yard nails it.
As far as the actual music goes, PITY is iconic for a number of reasons. The tracks flow seemlessly into each other so it sounds like one long 30 minute suite, and never give the listener a rest, which is very important for a genre that isn't supposed to lay off on the aggression. Secondly, the musical creativity gone into it is incredible, considering the scarce resources of the band. The three songs Strangled with a Halo, Intimate Slavery and Mapplethorpe Grey are some of the most interesting pieces of grindcore I've ever heard, with varying groovy riffs, syncopation from hell and really well thought out and complex composition. This also applies for the last five tracks - and the rest of the album for that matter - but those three especially. Finally, the album is iconic because of what it represents. This album was conceived when grind was getting kind of old, and the audience was mostly underground. Bands like Napalm Death and Brutal Truth had their time, and needed to pass the baton on to something fresh, but nothing was around to take it... Then Pig Destroyer and Cephalic Carnage emerged from the woodwork, and claimed the Grind throne with PITY and Exploiting Dysfunction. This album pretty much revived grindcore, and brought it back to the ears of metal listeners, which is why it is so special.
Now don't get me wrong, this is not the traditional grind that the fathers of the genre gave birth to. No, this is modern, this is grindcore's seventh son, with the old school aggression blended in with modernist creativity. And the results are beautiful. My personal favourite grindcore album of all time. 5 stars, easily.