Vulvodynia

Started by Duncan Bentley and Luke Haarhoff in the beginning of 2014. Their early recordings were produced by Byron Dunwoody who later on joined the band as second guitarist. The band takes their name from the medical condition that involves a chronic, unexplained pain in the area around the opening of the vagina. Looking in a medical textbook will tell you the following: Vulvodynia is a chronic, severe vaginal pain with no identifiable cause. While the severe part is dead on, what a medical textbook won’t tell you is that Vulvodynia is also the name of 2014’s brightest rising star in the world of brutalizing, slamming deathcore. With lobotomizing, lurid riffs, skin-shredding blast beats and slams gruesome and filthy enough to induce septic shock, Vulvodynia are a lethal plague, spreading throughout the flesh of today’s heavy music scene—infecting one set of ears at a time, and leaving no survivors. Spawned in 2014, Vulvodynia is a South African slam juggernaut designed with one purpose: to make the heaviest, most absurdly heavy music possible, while attempting to define themselves as more than just “another slam band.” If their mission was over-the-top heaviness, then consider it accomplished—from their debut release, Lord of Plagues, Vulvodynia’s penchant for skull-splitting technicality and eviscerating heaviness has been obvious. Rapidly gaining popularity and recognition for their prodigal slam prowess, Lord of Plagues saw the band reach ears not just in their local scene, but around the world as well. As the band’s popularity grew, their sound matured, drawing more from a greater array of influences and improving their musicianship and dynamic—until finally, in October of 2014, the band released their debut full-length album, Cognizant Castigation. Featuring Acrania’s Luke Griffin and Ingested’s Jason Evans (among many others), Cognizant Castigation is an album that cements Vulvodynia’s status as slam legends, transcending common gimmicks and staples of the genre and instead opting to generate an overwhelmingly crushing experience that fans of any style of heavy music will be able to get into. With 2014 being a whirlwind year for these young South African slaughterers, it’s practically impossible to predict the extent to which Vulvodynia’s slamming, sinister infection will spread throughout the years to come. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.