Labels: Hydra Head
Review by: Kunal Nandi
OK, it’s a fucking belated review, and since virtually everyone has already creamed their Carhartts over this one, I suppose my tardy two cents won’t help shift many more units, but goddammit this record is amazing, and a quantum leap on from the previous full-length (“Bastardiser”), which must be several years old by now.
“Whacked Out” is a beautiful statement of intent. Huge, crashing powerchords knock the life out of you as they spin on a precision stop-start rhythm that gets you swaying with seasickness. Then things take a turn for the utterly mental, with a guitar line that can barely keep up with itself, a drummer keeping perfect but crazy time and a horrific vocal.
Knut’s sound is now totally their own, organically flowing from section to section, with that all-important ear for melody, fucked and twisted though those melodies are. Things are much more varied now too than on previous recordings, more effects and acoustic guitars making an appearance. Whilst the heavy bits are some of the most crushing music committed to tape (listen to Track 6’s one-note riff for proof), even the quieter sections sound menacing and claustrophobic. The final song is twenty minutes long. Ouch.
A beautifully unpleasant mind-expanding experience. Get two if you haven’t already.