siLLy puPPy GOUGED is an extreme metal band that formed in St. George, Utah and has since relocated to Salt Lake City. This band crafts a murky mix of grindcore and death metal with elements of doom. So far the band has only released this one self-titled EP which runs over the seven minute mark so actually can be considered a demo. The band consists of Andrew Patterson (bass, vocals), Ben Finley (guitar), Dylan Huff (guitar, vocals) andJordan Strang (drums, vocals.) This EP has so far only been released digitally on the band’s Bandcamp page and given the scant info available remains a mystery as to the appearance of future releases.

This EP delivers a whomping seven minutes plus of pure core brutality with filthy muddy guitar stomps that reverberate darkness and despair. The six tracks are all quite short with the lengthiest “Blind To The Pain” just shy of the two minute mark. While considered grindcore the tempo is slowed down and resembles death doom metal bands at timed but when the axe murderer freneticism breaks free, the core elements explode like warehouses of nuclear arsenals. The production is raw and the vocals are screamed through the din and unintelligible. Also the compositions are somewhat labyrinthine at times with technical drumming skills. The guitar and bass fuse to form a united distortion.

Often while the massive uproar banters on there are squealing guitar sounds that add a fingernails on the chalkboard sort of irritant. The entire EP is only over seven minutes long but sounds like an album’s worth of aggressive fury condensed into its pure essence. This is a cool muddy darkened metal experience that is as occult sounding as the bitchin’ album cover it sports. While there must be some symbology of the cadaver holding a noose with a floating skull and pig’s head, it just looks freaky and implies some sort of underworld tarot cards of some sort. Nothing on here is OMG original but rather well performed and casts a darkened spell that is satisfying. Definitely makes me look forward to a future release of some sort.