VII's Top 10 Pig Destroyer Songs

This year, the world is supposed to be blessed with the awesomeness of a new Pig Destroyer album. After approximately 367 years (okay, only 4), the Baltimore grind Gods are finally, finally releasing new material. And while there isn't an official release date yet, I'm still counting down the days. So, I thought I would celebrate my excitement by creating a list of my 10 favorite Pig Destroyer songs. This list is most likely subject to change sometime in the future, but for now, here are my favorites. Agree/disagree/troll in the comments below.

10: Natasha - "Terrifyer/Natasha": "Natasha" is a song that most grind bands could attempt to do, but just wouldn't be able to do as well as Pig Destroyer. This 37 minute(!) doom/sludge epic is a truly experimental piece for the band. Half of the music on it is ambient, or found sounds. The rest comprising of something akin to Godflesh if they went all funeral doom. And Pig Destroyer makes this work, to me, because the band already was so good at capturing misery, disturbing imagery, and sadness through JR's lyrics. Originally released as the 2nd disc to "Terrifyer", but was intended as it's own separate release, "Natasha" is a very intriguing piece of music that definitely sticks out in the bands catalog. But yeah, the falsetto vocals in the middle do get a chuckle out of me.

9: Piss Angel - "Prowler In The Yard": Nostalgia factor for me, because this was the first Pig Destroyer song that I ever heard, as I'm sure it was for a lot of people who looked this band up on Youtube for the first time. The final song on the grotesque, conceptual masterpiece, "Prowler In The Yard", "Piss Angel" is, interestingly, probably the most accessible song on the album(subtracting the ambient 2nd half). Killer riffs from Scott are all up in this song; I fucking love the use of harmonics in the 3rd riff, and that phone ringing sample always makes my skin crawl a little.

8: Forgotten Child - "split w/ Gnob": I'm sure you've all seen that live video of JR audibly screaming over the music when his microphone breaks. The song they're playing is "Forgotten Child". Awesome video and awesome song, full of killer riffs(as always, I shouldn't really have to point this out). Every part of the song flows into each other well, eventually ending in some excellent discordant chugging and grooving. Definitely an overlooked song for the band.

7: Thumbsucker - "Terrifyer": "Terrifyer" is an album that I've only recently listened to in full. It's an excellent album overall, but "Thumbsucker" really sticks out for me out of all the songs that make up the bulk of the album. For one, Pig Destroyer really know how to write a great groove, and the meat of this song is built around simple palm-muted triplet chugging. And for some reason, I always love hearing Scott whip out some triplets. The guitars on this particular song sound very full and beefy, and I can't help but not bang my head whenever I hear this song. 

6: Phantom Limb - "Phantom Limb": This song, to me, is the final grindcore song on "Phantom Limb", but what a song it is! First off, I love JR's vocals on this song. particularly around the 00:14 mark. The way he spews out "all over me" over that blast beat sounds so twisted and strained. Also, the way the 2nd riff morphs into that EXCELLENT breakdown is just delicious. Not a song I hear a lot of people talking about, but I love it.

5: Taskmaster - "split w/ Benumb": This may be the most visceral song that Pig Destroyer has ever written. JR's vocals on this song, I mean, holy fuck. I don't know if he has effects on them or something, but the dude sounds like a straight up beast! He sounds like a rabid bear that escaped from a zoo and is going around killing anyone unfortunate enough to get in his path. I love the 1-2-1-2 blasting momentum in this song too, something I don't hear the band using very often this well. Killer track!

4: Tickets To The Car Crash - "Prowler In The Yard": I've spoken about this song a few times on here before. To me, this is the most fucked up sounding song on "Prowler...". This song sounds like twisted, mangled bodies screaming out in agony, it sounds like hell, it sounds like something you would hear in the worst nightmare you've ever had. The sheer dissonance and chaos in this song is extraordinary, and JR, again, knows how to dish out pure mayhem in his voice. 

3: Girl In The Slayer Jacket - "Phantom Limb": One thing that I haven't touched down upon very much in this article is JR's lyrics, which as most people know are a huge part of the band. The dude is one of the best lyricists in extreme music, and can tell a excellent story. "Girl In The Slayer Jacket" is one of my favorite lyrics he's written, and seems to be based somewhat in reality, which makes it all the more disturbing. The character in the song is someone that most people probably knows; a young person who can't find anyone to relate too, someone who is chronically sad, maybe someone who eventually takes their own life. I love this particular line; "She had thick skin/but if you cut her/the wound would bleed forever". 

2. Sheet Metal Girl - "Prowler In The Yard": Riffs, man. Scott's riffs. The grimy production on the album transforms what would normally be a rather clean and elegant sounding riff, like the one at the beginning of this song, into song that sounds like pure hell. The riff feels like it's crawling, like a zombie that's falling apart as it moves. And that ending riff, holy shit. Again, excellent use of harmonics. I also really enjoy how the riff sounds much more intense the 2nd time it's played, like Scott just got really really stoked and is bashing the shit out of his guitar. Solid.

1. The Machete Twins - "Phantom Limb": One thing that I think Pig Destroyer really nailed on "Phantom Limb", was crafting full fledged songs. Not to diss their song crafting abilities on the other albums, but when comparing "Phantom..." to their previous works, it's very obvious that the band concentrated on creating songs that would stick with you. "The Machete Twins" stick on me like napalm. One of my favorite lyrics JR wrote, telling the story of 2 misanthropic, homicidal sisters, chopping a "whole SWAT team to pieces". I fucking love it. And that riff, at the end, is the catchiest thing the band has written. Perfect, flawless riff. I love the stop/starts, I love JR's screams over them, I just love everything about it. By far, my favorite Pig Destroyer song. 

~VII