Death Hilarious

The fifth album from Newcastle’s riff wizards Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs is defined by calculated aggression and self-lacerating lyrics. Its startling bonuses include playful synth work and the appearance of a giant from hip-hop. With its title juxtaposing absurdity and seriousness, this is Death Hilarious.  

Whereas 2023’s Land Of Sleeper was conceived as an immersive headphones experience, this time Pigs strove for something more directly hostile. “We wanted it to be a slap in the face,” grins producer and guitarist Sam Grant. That objective came, in part, from playing so many gigs over the last couple of years. The band felt well-oiled and ripe to give listeners at home the kind of pummelling their audiences receive. 

As for the words, they emerged from a bout of anxiety which derailed Matt Baty’s self-confidence to the extent that he wondered whether he’d be able to write any lyrics again. With his mind telling him he’d lost it and no longer had anything to say, the solution was to embrace the disquiet. “After a while I realised this is my muse,” remembers Baty. “I decided to give all these thoughts an avenue to release themselves, in the hope of exorcising them.” This suited the punchy and scratchier style the band were pursuing.

Pigs also see it as a response to the “everyone-for-themselves undertones of neoliberalism”, notes drummer Ewan Mackenzie. “There’s a lot more uncertainty and insecurity across society at the moment and, rather than resort to forced optimism, I think it’s important to respond with something that’s real and felt.” On Death Hilarious, then, Pigs are keen to sidestep the “Live, Laugh, Love” positivity that’s propagated through mainstream pop culture.

That being said, the album contains the latest moment that’s caused the quintet to pinch themselves in disbelief: ‘Glib Tongued’ has guest bars by El-P from Run The Jewels. When bassist John-Michael Hedley unwittingly wrote what his bandmates considered their equivalent of a hip-hop number, Pigs set their sights high and secured a blistering contribution from one of the world’s greatest rappers.

That’s not to say Pigs have pivoted to nu-metal. Death Hilarious is a diversely punishing record which shapeshifts through Sabbathian doom, grotesquely minimalist noise rock and cyclical post-metal fortissimos. Pigs continue to push themselves, too. Incongruous synthesiser solos appear where guitar histrionics would usually fit. Piano tracks lurk in the mix, adding near-subliminal depth to the maelstrom. ‘Stitches’ is like Motörhead trying to perform glam rock with a tipsy keyboardist.

The well-oiled unit now face touring this material. They’ll need to be in peak shape just to hit the 100mph pace of cosmic-thrash opener ‘Blockage’. Distorted licks flying from the amplifiers of Grant and lead guitarist, Adam Ian Sykes, while the rhythm section sizzle behind. “We usually play things even faster when we’re excited,” chuckles Mackenzie, with an underlying sense of concern. Meanwhile Baty is less likely to rap El-P’s verses, in concert, than he is to suddenly attempt a three-part harmony.

Is it the recognition of their individual limitations that ultimately makes Pigs more than the sum of their parts? “None of us are capable of doing what each of the other ones do,” says Grant. “Ergo, there’s a really healthy appreciation across the board. I look at all four of the others and each of them is doing something beyond what I can do in that world.”

On that note, Pigs joke there’s a danger their next album will be titled UNBREAKABLE RESPECT. Surely that’s edging from insecurity-induced psych metal into the dubious area of wellness waffle. 

If you can’t beat them, join them.

Live, Laugh… RIFF!