Review by: Nadia Almashoor
Long gone is this Canadian outfit. And so they leave us with this 12″ containing four songs. Yes just four songs. Four very long songs. Those familiar with the label this is released on, you’re probably thinking “hardcore” along the lines of 25 Ta Life, Congress and Morning Again. Close but not quite.
They combine a lot of styles, ranging from metal to grind to mixing up with electronics. And this can be seen from their prologue which involves some computer game beeps and broken radio transmissions. Then they stampede through with some hissing vocals all gruffy and roaaaargh…and the guitars are just all over the place. Yeah yeah yeah bring on the rock! Suddenly it’s quiet…slow…with inconsistent bass lines and then it thunders.! Oh wait. It’s still the same song. See, I told you it was long. And that’s just the 1st. Track after repeats in a somewhat similar fashion. Brutal. Extreme.
Capsize. Side B. Another electronic prologue. Another rush. But hang on. It gets better. Reasonable starts and stops a la Canvas. And the kind of Abjure-ish feel of misleading you into a totally different direction. Finally ‘The Bastard Standard’ chugga chuggas along, with some very neat drumming. And there’s some laser gun shooting in the background. And spinning helicopters too. (Or is it just my imagination) Then it’s like one anthemic hardcore rhythm. Epilogue : yet more electronics. Uhm…okay.
So they did a great job even though it was slightly exhausting for me. If you’re keen enough, check out their split with Song of Zarathustra on Witching Hour. Which triggered me to get this LP in the first place.