Album Review: Pupil Slicer – Fleshwork (Prosthetic Records)

UK mathcore outliers Pupil Slicer return on November 7th, 2025, with ‘Fleshwork’, their brand-new album, out via Prosthetic Records.

A record that explores how society and the machinery behind it (political, financial etc.) dehumanises and devalues the most marginalised (the poor, disabled, queer, people of colour etc.) in a ‘sort of’ conceptual way. Fleshwork is Pupil Slicer at their most visceral, at their most honest, and in their rawest state. Delivering some of their most intense music to date, but also their most compelling as their evolution reaches an impressive apex.

Evolved, experimental, intense, and emotional sounding, the detail within Fleshwork is what ensures it will be long lasting, but alongside that are more accessible elements that give the band’s sharp and complex mathcore edge a freshness.

Let’s take the opener, Heather, as an example. It’s a passionate banger, ferocious from both an instrumental and vocal perspective, but it has melody in a more prominent place. Thoroughly listenable, even with punchy metal potency, and one of many highlights.

Another of which is the frenetic Gordian, a miasma of heaviness that combines dreamy clean singing (the first of many wonderful examples of Kate’s immense wider vocal range), groovy bass lines, and invigorating riffs. Though I am quite a fan of the methodical doom-infused power of Sacrosanct, especially because of the lyrics and how intensely they are roared out.

I hope this hurts.

Fuck yeah.

Pupil Slicer are one of the UK’s most creative bands, refusing to compromise their vision, and delivering exceptional heaviness that come from a wide range of ideas. It’s so much more than just being fast and noisy, and there may be no better example of how weirdly compelling things get then with the psychedelic and progressive Innocence. An enigmatic and experimental effort that creates a whole new level of obsession.

Then there is Black Scrawl. Nastier, heavier, faster, more abrasive, especially from a guitar point of view, the word that comes to mind is ‘dangerous’ but ‘angry’ works too.

A severed sense of what it means to be human.

My favourite track though? It’s Nomad, a track I have been obsessed with since it was released as a single. I’ll just repeat what I wrote in the Single Slam at the time of its release, as it still rings true. Filled with ferocious intent, powerful guitar rhythms, the chunkiest of drumbeats, and the most vitriolic of vocals, except there’s so much more too. Not only does it have melody, but it delivers haunting atmosphere and unique sounding clean singing. It’s such a clever, and addictive song. Pupil Slicer have never sounded sharper, or heavier, and as if to hammer that point home, the last section of the song is downright doomy.

It’s brilliant. One of the best songs of the year, full-stop. A staggering showcase of their creativity, addictive beyond belief, and from a story-telling perspective, compelling. Lyrically, it’s one of the album’s strongest too, as no-one can deny just how much of a wasteland the internet has become.

The title track is next, delivering a hefty riff, and for the most part, keeping it simple. Aside from some bubbling psychedelia and meaty breakdowns that add a fresh dimension to their sound. Before things really head off in a different direction with White Noise. Not only Pupil Slicer at their most alternative sounding but Pupil Slicer at their most upbeat. It’s a hard track to compare as there’s nothing else quite like it on the record, even if the vibe does fit and it’s still unequivocally them.

Fleshwork doesn’t hang around, even though we do get one hell of a substantial closing track with Cenote. Blackened in places, melodically dreamy in others, with post-touches, blasts of brutality, flashes of deeper emotion, and so much more. It’s an elaborate listen, but also one of their most powerful efforts.

Not the Pupil Slicer of old, nor the Pupil Slicer of tomorrow, this is the Pupil Slicer of now, and they’ve never sounded as potent as they do here. It’s their most varied release to date, and with that has come a scaled back approach that allows their voices to come through in clearer and less hurried fashion. This will reach a whole new audience and allow them to find their own connection to the band, while those who have been along for the ride so far, will find their connection deepening. Is it Pupil Slicer’s best? Opinions may vary in that regard, but as far as I am concerned, this is a triumph of a release.

Pupil Slicer – Fleshwork Track Listing:

1. Heather
2. Gordian
3. Sacrosanct
4. Innocence
5. Black Scrawl
6. Nomad
7. Fleshwork
8. White Noise
9. Cenote

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