I’ve been fucking around with Disfiguring the Goddess since 2012’s Sleeper, but the last album I actually heard from ‘Big Chocolate’ (aka Cameron Argon, formerly of Abominable Putridity and Burning the Masses) and his dubstep/techno infused take on deathcore was 2019’s Katerpillar.
Now, certainly, techno and dubstep beats/programming in metal, specifically deathcore, have been used plenty over the years ( The Browning, Beyond All Recognition), but Disfiguring the Goddess, I feel, is one of the first (I’d say The Berzerker, but while they used techno drums they had little dance/programming beats, and yes I know about Fear Factory‘s and Avulsed’s cyber efforts), to really lean into the dubstep influence, despite starting as a standard deathcore/slam band.
But of late, he and his more recent songs have been all over social media, with some even going a bit viral (namely the 2025 EP Galapagos). Especially with the popularity of bands like PeelingFlesh, Infectious Jelking, and Filth, where programming and rap are now commonplace.
So I went back and checked out post-Katerpiller albums like Softly With You, Blood Era and the Brutal Machine – and it’s all pretty consistent; massive, groovy slam/deathcore with oodles of samples, beats and programming. And that’s what Bloom offers, though it appears singing to Seek and Strike has given him a bigger production budget after being pretty independent for his career.
Most of you will hate this. But if you like the aforementioned PeelingFlesh, you will eat this up, as while not using rap, there are tons of dubstep beats and programming/samples amid the generally mid-paced, massive, loping slams. And those bite-sized slams (16 songs in 50 minutes) are pretty satisfying and head-bob-inducing; I imagine the likes of “Samba of the Faceless”, “Echoes Fade, I remain”, “Deathcore Song”, “Mask off (feat. J-Figure)”, the lumbering “Goddess Box (feat. Bodybox)”, “Low Slam Low”, and “Black Widow Spider” would be pretty fun in a live environment.
That said, there are a few more ‘out there’ tracks like “AWOL”, “Sweet Dreams ” and “Dapper” (both feat. Four Stroke Baron)”, “Permission to be Claimed”, “Kiss the Dice” and reggae-laced “Pleasure Island” with either a lot more…. weirder? programming and some other vocal styles used than the brutal slam growl/burp.
Admittedly, 50 minutes is a bit long for this. Around “Pleasure Island”, the schtick wears off a bit, and I’ve heard the same riff a few times now (but I could see he t “Penance” being a live fixture). But like the albums before, this will be a random guilty pleasure of mine when I want something a little different if I want to shake my booty for a bit. (Ewwww, sorry for that visual).
