What happens when members of Pig Destroyer, Suffering Hour, Crowhurst and Executioner’s Mask join forces for a one-off EP? The Krinkles‘ It’s Great to Be Alive is what happens. Conceived in 2018 by vocalist Jay Gambit, who has a long history of collaboration with other musicians in both Crowhurst and Executioner’s Mask, The Krinkles quickly grew to include an impressive roster: Blake Harrison (Pig Destroyer) on noise, Christian Molenaar (Executioner’s Mask) on drums, Josh Raiken (Suffering Hour) on guitar and bass.
It’s Great to Be Alive reflects the band members’ lengthy tenures in extreme metal bands of various genres, but The Krinkles build their sound on a metallic hardcore base. The best moments on the EP come when The Krinkles embrace chaos and noise (the second half of “Gene Krupa And Me: A Lifetime Movie Event -> The Harlem Globetrotters vs Scooby Doo vs Henry Rollins in a Sack Race”) and in the slower, dissonant “breakdowns” where Raiken’s dissonant guitar work really shines through (“If You’re Not In Pitchfork By Age 14, You’re Finished”).
It’s hard to nail It’s Great to Be Alive to one specific genre; it’s a one-off collaboration with an interesting lineup that will probably appeal to fans of metallic hardcore, grindcore, black/death metal riffs in not-black/death metal songs and noise rock.
“You know, when you get old in life things get taken from you. I mean that’s… part of life,” Gambit tells Decibel. “But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out life’s this game of inches. So is making a grind record. Because in either game, life or grind, the margin for error is so small—I mean one-half a step too late, or too early, and you don’t quite make it. One-half second too slow, too fast, you don’t quite catch it.”
You can listen to It’s Great to Be Alive below and buy via Bandcamp. All purchases go directly to Stray Cat Relief Fund, a charity for neglected and abandoned animals in Philadelphia.
