Back in January’s Black Market, I wrote these words: “Only one month in, this year should be too young for trends to reveal themselves, but the narrative already looks clear: This is the year of hideous sludge.” And in many ways, it was just that. 2014 delivered slabs of hideous sludge from a murderers’ row of genre giants, including Thou, Coffinworm, Eyehategod, and Lord Mantis. But From All Purity, the fifth LP from Indian, might be the perfect embodiment of the style, and the purest to boot: There’s nothing pretty here, ever, no respite at any point, just a torrent of bile under a wash of noise. Pounding rhythms mark time while battered electronics squeal; riffs explode in slow motion. But there’s craftsmanship beneath the din, and it pays dividends when you spin the entire album on repeat, which is oddly easy to do for something so intentionally abrasive. The songs are rudimentary constructions, built of single riffs or simple patterns: crush, rinse, and repeat. Music rarely feels this punishing or nihilistic. More, please. –Aaron [LISTEN]