‘Arrested, investigated, purged…Those who won’t conform must be crushed like insects, The shadow of utopia falls across their concrete cells and gravepits’ (Hidden Ruler [Kang Sheng])

A world sucked into a merciless mire of authoritarian control, state surveillance, militarised violence, and rapacious economic self-interest.  A misery saturated narrative that reeks of the indiscriminate horror that is of our present yet is also somehow both futuristically dystopian and shrouded in the imagery of medieval savagery.  Such an evocative combination can mean only one thing – the return of Portland’s Rigorous Institution.

Tormentor is the follow-up to the band’s searing 2002 debut full-length, Cainsmarsh.  The sonic fulcrum remains stenchcore braided through with a sense of gothic drama and growled vocals that appear to have been steeped in humanity’s degradation for all eternity.  Intriguingly though, Tormentor sees the band succeed in the fine balancing act of both intensifying their neanderthal brutality, while also nurturing their more experimental urges.

The former manifests itself in the utterly crushing riffage.  The uncompromisingly raw crust aesthetic remains undimmed.  However, from the sledgehammer grooves of Hidden Ruler (Kang Sheng) and Passion Play to the venomous riffs that define Regime Forces and Preach To The Converted, the doom-laden riffage is somehow even more muscular in its execution.

The latter is exemplified by the two instrumental tracks that close out each side.  P.B.T.D entwines a lone southern-tinged guitar with bird song, while the finale, H.D. IV – Laika’s Lament, sees haunting electronics ambiently soothe and stab with unease in equal measure.  A bleakly triumphant return.