Rockin' Our Turntable: Bloodiest

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 8, 2011 7:00PM

Imagine surf-guitar god Dick Dale burning in hell, lonely and forgotten. Or, if that thought exercise proves to be too cruel and sadistic (gee, wonder why), picture instead Black Sabbath covering Dale’s Pulp Fiction--appropriated classic “Miserlou.” That opening sixteenth note machine-gun riff, now played on a downtuned guitar, moves like a bat out of Hades, and it probably sounds a lot like “Fallen,” the opening salvo on Bloodiest’s debut record Descent.

With a name like Bloodiest, and with local music prestige equally from present (Yakuza, 90 Day Men) as past, few could accuse this Chicago septet of pulling their musical punches. Indeed, they don’t. But Descent isn’t the growling, blast-beating metal record one might imagine. (Although epics like “Dead Inside” and “Slave Rule” certainly feature the best hallmarks of the genre: booming drumbeats, howling vocals, and crunchy riffs). After the room-swallowing “Fallen,” Descent takes a breather with the kind of Nylon-stringed guitar, Spanish-influenced musical passages that were once the calm before the storm on the best Metallica records.

Though Bloodiest certainly rock, it’s on these quiet moments - where the keyboards, sound manipulations, and other subtle touches poke their heads out - on “Coh” and “Passages” that the group’s true talent for arranging all of their disparate elements together masterfully becomes clear. Descent cleverly ascends to a profound musical crescendo as the aforementioned “Dead Inside,” “Slave Rule,” and album closer “Obituary” (where that surf-guitar riff reappears) all add up to an album that’ll surely be amongst the year’s most satisfying. When listening to Descent, make sure you watch your mouth. If your teeth aren’t strong, Bloodiest will knock you right out.

Bloodiest play with Indian, Saturday, April 9, at Subterranean,, 2011 W North, 10 p.m., $8, 21+.