I Am Pariah—Procreate//Annihilate EP (2018)

Details

Recorded and produced by I Am Pariah. Self-released on Friday 30 November 2018.

For fans of Avenged Sevenfold, Papa Roach, Of Mice and Men.

Band

Benjamin Antony James—Vocals and programming
Steve Westerholm—Guitar
Dave Snell—Bass and programming

Tracks

Heavy in Japan
A place to belong
Cult society
Big shot

Review

Procreate//Annihilate (2018) is the sophomore EP from Stoke-on-Trent (England) based nu-metalcore band I Am Pariah.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the final piece in my trawl through the archives at 195 Metal CDs Towers and discovering a bunch of unreviewed releases from 2018 and 2019—the awful years of divorce, breakdown, medical emergencies and legal action. My review backlog feels clean and legitimate now.

Titled Procreate//Annihilate (2018), this new collection of songs is a catharsis to the frustrations of modern times and a personal reflection as to where we are as a human race and the need to do better.

This new EP demonstrates a young band with great songs that deserve to have the play button pushed repeatably. Mixing past, present and future influences of heavy metal with shades of rock and an abundance of punk attitude, Procreate//Annihilate (2018) showcases I Am Pariah’s diverse sound with relentless riffs, fresh compositions and dynamic cutthroat tinged melodic vocals.

When asked about the title, vocalist Benjamin Antony James said, “Procreate//Annihilate was a title we came up with when we sat down and discussed the four short stories we had written. We saw it painted an overall picture that many people are born to destroy, nasty one-sided individuals, misologists in every way.”

“The EP title is relevant to what’s going on around us,” said bassist Dave Snell. “Nowadays it seems some people are brought up with no respect for anyone or anything, and the only thing they do is cause misery to the ones that surround them. It also symbolises the way in which young adults are conscripted to war for unnecessary gains, a life of violence with no reprieve.”

Conclusion

I Am Pariah describes their music as “charged by undeniable grooves, huge riffs [and] anthemic tunes”. I cannot disagree. There is an energy and urgency about the music. The riffs are massive and infused with melody and a solid rock spirit.

Review score: 75%

Video

Disclosure

Stampede Press UK contacted me (in 2018… ahem) inviting me to preview I Am Pariah’s forthcoming EP, thank you. I have no connections to either Stampede Press UK or I Am Pariah. I’m not being paid to review this, but I did get a free digital copy of the album to review which is pretty cool. Many thanks to Rob from Stampede Press UK, and to I Am Pariah for continuing to create fresh, exciting new music.