Squelching OK - Hurting You

EP REVIEW

Hurting You
Squelching OK (slamming deathcore)
2025 Oct. 31
6 tracks
16:53
Arson Theory

If you’re a fan of the kind of music featured on this site, there’s something wrong with you. You understand the allure of the off-putting. You know why vile can be worthwhile. We all want to hear something so aggressive, so disgusting that it surprises us. Nervous laughter is the sign you've struck gold. That’s the goal for me, anyway. And that’s where Squelching comes in.

Squelching hails from Oklahoma, a place seemingly teeming with notable new acts in metal and hardcore. With alumni like the venerable PeelingFlesh and the recently disbanded Bashed In (which I’m still crying about), you’ve gotta wonder what’s in the water down there. Nothing good, I tells ya. And while they dropped their first EP, the self-titled Squelching, in 2023, it flew under my radar. I’ve since gone back and grown to love that release, so expect a review of that in the future — but my experience with Squelching begins with this latest release, Hurting You. 

Squelching couldn’t set the tone for this EP better than with the opening track “Fucked Up, Gutted.” Starting with a looping sample from Ecology:HomeStones’ “Once I Step Behind the Curtain, I Never Come Out the Same,” it already feels like some Backrooms nightmare. As soon as the instruments hit, you know it's over. The sample means you know where you are generally on the deathcore map, but the production quality makes you realize you’re in the fancy apartments on those blocks. This EP, for me, is the new blueprint. I've never heard anything so raw and so produced at the same time. 

The guitar tone on Hurting You is… frankly, for me, perfect. Like fizzling tar, it feels alive with swells of distortion from palm mutes, and open chords ring loud and full. The pinch harmonics are so resonant you'd swear they were synths. The drums sound huge, with lots of space to breathe — important headroom to be filled by frequent snare bombs. Vocalist Jordan Pruitt is a highlight of the band with his positively putrid voice. His mid-range gutturals are powerful and full, but the bottom end of his range is where he really impresses. Layers of gurgles and inhales guarantee a filthy deliverance of ultra-aggressive lyrics. And the low end is just… so juicy, so gummy, so deep. With explosive kicks, thick bass guitar, and intermittent bass drops, Squelching’s sound will put your subwoofer to the test. Also, one last thing I love about this EP is that there are actual “squelching” sounds found throughout, especially during quieter moments like track intros. That’s what I’d call unity of effect. 

It's truly impressive what the band was able to achieve here from a production standpoint. Hats off to the band and whoever they worked with to get these results. I thought the production on Psycho-Frame’s Salvation Laughs in the Face of a Grieving Mother would be the undisputed champion of production for a while, but I was wrong. 

But good production is far from the only thing Hurting You has going for it. The compositions themselves are what put Squelching on the map. Shifting from death metal to beatdown and everywhere in between, it feels like Squelching made a list of the heaviest parts from the heaviest genres and nailed them to glued-down grooves. It’s like the greatest hits of reasons why I love this style of music. But this is something new. Squelching, in my opinion, does not fit in with the other “deathcore revival” bands we’ve seen lately like Execution or Mauled. This is a new kind of deathcore. I want some 2-step, I want some horns up, and I want some nuclear-powered crowdkilling. Squelching’s got it all. 

Most of the songs on the EP have a good variety of tempos and swing to keep them interesting, with the exception of “Corpse Defilement” which is pretty upbeat throughout. Squelching doesn’t shy away from chaotic blast-beat passages, but they also take their time to slow down and revel in their fight-worthy feels. This is deathcore you can throw ass to. Honestly, nothing in recent memory has moved me to incite violence like the squirming syncopation of “Rip My Skin.” Fuck me to death, bitch. 

Right now, for me, Squelching is one of a kind. They’re the perfect combination of what I love about so many subgenres of extreme music. But most importantly: they’re fun. They’ve got crazy groove and hilarious lyrics. Amazing production quality? Check. Enjoyable and memorable songs? Check. As a new band with more tunes on the way, you’d be a fool not to keep your eyes on these guys. 

8.5/10