ANTI-SAPIEN return with At the Mercy of the Merciless, a 22 minute blast of sewer-filthy death crust that captures the band in a moment of evolution and escalation. Written on the road and recorded at Growl House Studios for a January 16, 2026 release on Terminus Hate City, the record feels like the point where a pandemic side project that started as a joke has hardened into a focused, relentless, politically furious machine. The songs are still fun, still catchy, still gross and sweaty, but the riffing has become more intricate and the sense of purpose sharper, with the band leaning into real world themes, personal damage, and systemic rot without sacrificing the primal thrill of heavy music.
Opening track “Old Drugs” works as a statement of intent, musically and lyrically. A clipped sample sets the mood, then the song detonates into blasts, double bass breakdowns, and scorching solos that touch on everything the band does best. The lyrics follow someone who cannot stop themselves from using whatever they find at the bottom of the couch or on the street, chasing a high all the way to the edge of death while society judges and discards them. It is fast, ugly, and surprisingly empathetic, and it establishes one of the record’s recurring threads, that loss of control can be internal as much as imposed from above. “Eater of Ghosts” picks up that thread and runs with it at breakneck speed, all tight triplet riffs and hyperactive drumming, tracing late night misadventures in motel parking lots through the eyes of a person who lets alcohol and drugs invite in whatever ghosts want to possess them. The tone is equal parts revelry and horror, a celebration of the dark side that ANTI-SAPIEN clearly sweat bullets to pull off live.
The title track, “At the Mercy of the Merciless”, shifts the record into a mid tempo, knuckle dragging stomp built on a huge drum groove that practically forces a headbang. Here the focus zooms out from individual vices to societal collapse. The lyrics take aim at algorithmic isolation, confirmation bias, and the way people have been divided into echo chambers that make collective resistance almost impossible. The song points a finger at the one percent who profit from this division, but it is just as critical of our own complicity and comfort. As the center of the record it anchors both the sound and the message, tying together the album’s fixation on being trapped, whether by addiction, systems, or our own refusal to act.
“D.E.A.D.” flips the script again, foregrounding the punk and crust influences that run through ANTI-SAPIEN’s sound. A moshy intro and d beat verse, higher register vocals, and a disgusting slam breakdown with 808 bass drops turn the song into a live set highlight. The title stands for “Do Everything All Day”, a phrase handed down from an old friend that the band reshapes into a manifesto against wasted time and hollow, hate filled lives. It is about honoring dead friends by actually living, squeezing meaning and joy out of a world that constantly nudges people toward stagnation. The track also acts as the effective opener to the second half of the EP, written with a side A and side B mentality in mind, and it sets up the flow into the more anthemic “Grinding the System”.
“Grinding the System” is a stadium sized d beat song that leans into a Discharge inspired backbeat, with classic metal dual guitar solos hinting at subconscious Judas Priest or Iron Maiden worship before dropping into a breakdown that is a little cleaner and more melodic than ANTI-SAPIEN’s usual ugliness. Lyrically it is one of the clearest articulations of the album’s political focus, describing workers who keep the machine running for their masters even as hope erodes and debt follows them into the grave. A sound clip about people without hope being easy to control sets the tone before the band tears into lines about false shortages, crisis profiteering, and a species that seems to thrive on self destruction. It is a circle pit anthem with a deep sense of despair underneath, and it gives the record a brief tempo reprieve before the closing track.
“George Washington’s Teeth” ends the EP in a blaze of death metal that nods to bands like Vomitory, Nominon, and Father Befouled, full of tremolo picking, pinch harmonics, and straight ahead violence. The song uses the true story of Washington’s teeth being taken from slaves as an entry point into a broader indictment of American myth making and the way brutality is smoothed over for public consumption. Coins seeping through the eyes, sewer economies, people choking on the suffering they helped enable, it is a grotesque collage that pulls together the record’s concerns with historical lies, present day inequity, and a social body gnawing on itself. Sound clips about Wall Street and government waste inject a darkly comic edge, and a shouted “BITE IT YOU SCUM” courtesy of Roger from No/Más drives the song into a final barrage that feels like a bookend to the whole EP.
Across At the Mercy of the Merciless, ANTI-SAPIEN keep returning to the same tension. On one hand, they are trying to write riffs that feel like comfort and catharsis, something to sweat out to in a packed room. On the other hand, they are unflinching in their critiques of fascism, systemic abuse, exploitation, and the everyday ways people give up their power. The result is a record that is catchy and immediate, but also openly confrontational and political, from the first sound clip about the war on drugs being a war on people to the last reference to being chewed apart by the teeth of empire.
Minimal studio trickery and mostly full vocal and instrumental takes give the EP a live, human feel. Notes bend more with passion than perfection at times, and ANTI-SAPIEN lean into that choice rather than hide it. The band has already proven themselves on the road in the United States and abroad, and here they bottle that momentum into a short, filthy, and surprisingly thoughtful collection that runs from personal self sabotage to global systems of control. For listeners who live somewhere between death metal, crust punk, and hardcore, At the Mercy of the Merciless plays like a fast, furious wake up call, one that invites you to stage dive, circle pit, and then actually think about what you are angry at when the feedback fades.
About ANTI-SAPIEN:
ANTI-SAPIEN formed in Brooklyn in 2021 and grew quickly from a loose pandemic experiment into a touring force known for filthy death crust riffs, sweat soaked shows, and a message that cuts through the noise. The band began as a way for friends to blow off steam and write ugly, fun songs that blended their love of D beat punk, death metal, grind, and the classic New York slam tradition. What surprised them was how quickly audiences connected to not only the heaviness but the honesty. Kids responded to the riffs but also to the moments between songs where the band spoke openly about inequality, exploitation, and the systems that grind people down. That connection pushed ANTI-SAPIEN to take the project further, tighten their sound, and hit the road hard across the United States and eventually through Australia, Korea, and Japan.
Over time the band’s lineup shifted into the current form of Blake Charlton, Alex Fewell, Ryan Murphy, and Nathan Rand, all seasoned musicians with long histories in heavy music. Their combined backgrounds in bands like Ramming Speed, Black Mass, Soul Remnants, and others helped shape the sound into something both raw and disciplined, equal parts crust punk grit and death metal precision. They have played festivals like NEDM Funtime Bonanza and the NYDM International Fest, building a reputation for fast sets, filthy tones, and a refusal to shy away from uncomfortable truths.
ANTI-SAPIEN operate with a clear sense of purpose. They are proudly anti fascist, openly political, and committed to calling out abuses of power while keeping their shows rooted in community and catharsis. The band writes music that is catchy and disgusting, equal parts sewer filth and adrenaline, and they deliver it with the conviction of people who believe heavy music can be fun while still saying something worth hearing. Audiences continue to grow each tour, fueled by the band’s willingness to merge riffs, rage, humor, and a perspective shaped by lived experience.
ANTI-SAPIEN is:
Blake Charlton – Guitar and Lead Vocals
Alex Fewell – Drums
Ryan Murphy – Bass and Backup Vocals
Nathan Rand – Lead Guitar
Connect with ANTI-SAPIEN:
Website: terminushatecity.com
Bandcamp:https://anti-sapien.bandcamp.com/music
E Shop:https://anti-sapien.bandcamp.com/merch
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/AntiSapienBand/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/antisapienband/
YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@antisapienband
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/4qq4lPjBPdNmudoOk1CfRZ
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/anti-sapien/1679779909
