Noxious, the debut LP from Antigonish-based extreme metal project Paranormal Arson, pulls no punches in its apocalyptic commentary on modern society. The brainchild of Jamie MacDonald, Noxious is as musically suffocating as it is politically furious, layering death metal brutality with industrial clatter, sludge-drenched distortion, and unfiltered punk rage.
The album kicks off with “Administrative Message,” a static-laced warning signal that drops listeners into the chaos with “Hook, Line, Sinker.” This second track builds from eerie glitch and radio fuzz into a steel-toothed machine of snarling vocals, churning guitars, and explosive drums. Thematically, it tears into the political manipulation of marginalized groups through vague, divisive slogans.
By track five, “A Bloated Sac of Noxious Gas and Bile,” the guitars gnarl and loop menacingly, dragging through a dense fog of rhythm and “bile-soaked” vocals. It’s a grotesque metaphor for the poisonous rhetoric of fascist mouthpieces who are the media figures and political leaders stoking hate with toxic ideologies until it spreads like miasma.
Then there’s “Fuck.” A thrashy, bone-rattling outburst of panic and fury, fast, distorted, and aggressively unrelenting, the song climbs toward a pummeling climax before melting into sludge-soaked doom. It’s a breakdown in real time—a musical reaction to the overwhelming absurdity of global crisis.
The rest of Noxious holds no punches either. From eviscerations of corrupt grocery CEOs to takedowns of the Catholic Church and call-outs to internet metal gatekeepers, every track is packed with venom and intent. Paranormal Arson has delivered an unflinching, chaotic, and darkly brilliant debut—Noxious is not here to comfort, it’s here to confront. Check out on Spotify, if you dare.
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