Labels: Conspiracy – Hydra Head
Review by: Joe Callaghan
So. Knut, pronounced ‘Canoot’, can consider themselves to be amongst Switzerland’s most prestigious exports from now on, alongside Celtic Frost, Philippe Senderos and Swiss Cheese, which they just call Cheese. I tend to be a little wary about mainland European bands, due to that Tom Delonge like accent they put on if they opt not to wail in their native tongue. Probably because a vocal accent similar to Ranier Wolfecastle might not be too appealing? Debatable. Knut have been around forever, constantly progressing and have always managed to sound so accomplished way ahead of their time. They’ve barely received plaudits for such a feat though, despite being dubbed as the ‘future of hardcore’ within underground circles. If you have a rummage through their back catalogue, you’ll discover that they were barking upon hardcore punk directions well before they became popularised, but some other hoodlums with trendier hair cuts and a rich Dad always stepped in, ripped them off a little and took all the credit years later. Bastards, eh? They probably couldn’t give a toss, since they are still here after 15 years of shunting about, and ‘Wonder’ is yet another example as to why they are ahead of the rest by a considerable distance. Knut manage to capture a whole spectrum of hardcore punk rock affiliations, without sounding choppy or inconsistent. This convulsive, erratic onslaught boasts brutal chops, with caustic, angular shifts in rhythm, resulting in a record which cannot be pinned down nor pigeon-holed within one particular circle. It brushes on Keelhaul-like fidgety rhythms, combined with a sonic urgency on a similar par to Converge, yet that’s still not even the half of it. There’s hints of AmRep turgid noise-rock, groove-laden punk rock akin to the Melvins, occasional throaty gurgling grunts of old-fashioned European death metal, and the irrepressible chaos of the most violent power-violence. Even then, that sounds like genre-jumble-sale, when ‘Wonder’ lines itself up as quite the opposite. Each influence is implemented seamlessly, weaving in and out of capricious blasts of acerbic haphazard noise. This isn’t a disjointed premeditated huddle of ‘fast-bit’, ‘slow-bit’, ‘metal-bit’. This is mostly everything thrown against the wall at once, like at the rear of a bin lorry, when everything gets smashed together, as tightly and as compressed as possible. Kind of. No, that’s shit analogy. It’s just good, yeah? Yeah.