Pupil Slicer // Fleshworker // Album Review

When I reviewed Pupil Slicer’s debut album Mirrors in 2021, I immediately ordered the vinyl, and it has been a mainstay on my record player since. Blossom followed in 2023, and that too has been a regular listen – now is the test of the third album.

The band evolved between the first two albums, so I am expecting a similar growth in this release, especially with their new incarnation featuring bassist and backing vocalist Luke Booth, Kate Davies on vocals and guitar, and Josh Andrews on drums. I have high expectations for the mathcore band, and when I read in the press release that this release carries the band’s brand of trans-inclusive radical hatred, my interest is piqued even further.

As you press play, there is no denying that this album is dark and heavy, and very good. Davies uses the band as an outlet for expressing her experiences in a world full of intolerance and the toll it takes to get through life.

The nine tracks span 36 minutes of stunningly aggressive music that includes industrial influences in the mathcore, and there are some heavy black metal sounds at times, including on ‘Cenote’, which is one of my favourite songs on the album, but to be fair, the whole album is stunning.

It features chaotic drums, irregular structures, abrasive vocals, and draws on genres like Doom, Black Metal, Post Metal, and Mathcore. This is an inclusive album filled with frustration and hatred, yet welcoming to all.

There is no let-up either as the album progresses; the intensity is insane and won’t be for the faint of heart, as your ear canals fill with pressure and soon spill over, like cranial fluid after a head injury.

Have Pupil Slicer managed to continue their growth, absolutely – somewhere between Mirrors and Blossom is where the band have found themselves, and whilst it is an uncomfortable place to be, it is somewhere you want to be and to stay. Music can be testing, and this will put the hardened fan to the test, but I have no doubt that this will be welcomed by the band’s fans from the start and will also welcome a new crowd into the world of Pupil Slicer.

For me, this is their best work so far, and it makes the future very exciting for Pupil Slicer.

Fleshwork will be released on Friday, 7th November 2025, via Prosthetic Records.

Review:Ed Ford