Jumped into this one feet first, given the involvement of some forward-thinking grinders (members of Triac, Full Of Hell, Backslider…) and their admirable intention to slow things down in the name of ugly, ornery noise-rock. It makes sense, too, when you think about it – these are people who revel in variegated forms of sonic hostility and can turn their hand to just about anything, and their respective projects have all coughed up occasional AmRep-informed lumps over the years. With all this in mind it’s no surprise that the busted-knee crunches and aggrieved hollers are all thoroughly on-point, and that the songs are impeccably well-constructed. But herein also lies a nagging flaw: there’s a strange cleanliness to proceedings, and a certain homage-bound sterility that renders ‘Context’ enjoyable but not entirely essential. I mean, if you’re onboard with the angular, industrialised horrors of Unsane, Rusted Shut and Big’n then this will doubtless satisfy you up to a point, but there’s also a chance you’ll be left hungry for some of the feral energy and wilful unpredictability of the players’ faster, gnarlier projects once these six songs are through.
