If you’re not familiar with Eric Henderson—or his more ominous, truncated moniker, “E.”—a look through his back catalogue can be just a tad intimidating. Over the years, the Colorado-based multi-instrumentalist’s been involved in no less than sixteen different projects and put out more than 100 different releases through his label, EEE Recordings—many of them long, rather captivating explorations of extreme metal’s uncharted, atmospheric boundaries. So it’s a little strange to hear Henderson’s latest venture, Bladecatcher, dealing with a much rawer, more conventional death metal sound on new EP, Obverse. With a bit more time, Henderson may someday be able to make this motif work…but he’s not there yet.

That’s not to suggest Obverse is some sort of great ordeal or anything; there are, after all, only three songs that combine to span less than 10 minutes. And within that time frame, Henderson does have his moments—his gutteral growls could hang with anyone on the OSDM circuit, and occasionally, the odd bit of fantastic, sludgy riffage does creep through—like the combined, tremolo-picked-and-chugged riff about 40 seconds into “Disemboweling the Moon Goddess.” Hell, even that title wins him a point or two. Flashes like these are enough to make you realize there’s something neat hidden away deep within Bladecatcher, awaiting a chance to rear its ugly head and roar.

The problem, though, is two-fold. At times, the songs feel less like cohesive units and more like collections of parts, assembled haphazardly and hoping for the best. While the ten minutes do not, to reiterate, even begin to resemble a “burden,” they do at times feel far more tedious than they should. But more immediately obvious is the production, which muddies everything up and obscures the intricacies in Henderson’s compositions. Perhaps this is by design, but all the same, it’s hard to listen to Henderson dumbing down his clear technical abilities in this grimy cacophony—particularly when they’re often highlighted so crisply in his other work.

Actually…maybe that’s it. Perhaps the way to make this all work would be to set it aside for a while and work on some new material for his other projects, like Njiqahdda or Oaks of Bethel. A bit more from those realms would be most welcome. After Obverse, it’s tough to say the same for Bladecatcher right now.

Keep it heavy,

-Dan

Obverse is available now on EEE Recordings. For more information on Bladecatcher, visit the band’s page on Metal Archives.

Live. Love. Plow. Horns Up.