Bleak, minimalist, sparse, cold and vast, just some of the words that come to mind when describing Oakland’s Kowloon Walled City who return with this, their first album in over six years. I must admit, straight out of the gate, that I came late to the KWC party, in fact, it was at the start of the pandemic back in early 2020, when the daily grind of commuting back and forth to work, was suddenly curtailed, and being fortunate enough, I was able to work from home and suddenly, I had more time to play with. Diving down a Spotify styled Cave In/Coalesce rabbit hole, Kowloon’s first album ‘Container Ships’ slithered into audio range, and it was as if a dusty, oiled soaked rag had suddenly been pulled from my ears and life now made sense. Sounds a little hyperbolic granted, but I can honestly say that this was seminal moment in my forty-six years and three hundred and sixty-four days of life thus far (yup, birthday tomorrow) on a par with the first time I heard Iron Maiden, Metallica or Anthrax. Be in no doubt, that this Californian band opened my third eye and let the light shine into hitherto unexplored territories.
Kowloon Walled City, major in the discordant, the ponderous and the crushing. It’s slow and creeping like a double dose of pancuronium bromide, inching its way down your veins, and it absolutely crushes everything in its path into a smooth paste. Previous releases have seen the band refine their sound, not diluting, but simply reimagining themselves, improving the glorious bits and casting aside the detritus. Often these types of bands will use a tried and tested method of quiet, loud, soft, hard audio dynamics to emphasise the heavier moments (of which there are many) within their music but, KWC seem to do the opposite. That’s not to say that this new album Piecework doesn’t deliver in the riff department, if anything, the tone of the guitars seems slighter darker and metal tinged, wrapping its oily hands around your throat, crushing your windpipe but not quite rendering you unconscious. But it’s the quieter moments where the band really seem to shine. As the huge splashing ride and hi-hats usher in a creeping sense of melancholy in perfect synchronicity with quiet, ingeniously spicy guitar solos which deliver your drowning senses a welcome gasp of air and hope non more so than on ‘Splicing’ which is uplifting as it dense. It’s a brooding sense of darkness that also sees the band introduce nuances into their typical song structures, with a more stop start, dynamic which I can only imagine will be another musical journey that band will seek to take us on.
‘When We Fall Through The Floor, is more of the same, with the squelching, formidable ringing bass, anchoring but pushed back slightly in the mix in contrast to previous albums. The staccato and gargantuan drums propel you forward, as vocalist, producer and lyricist Scott Evan’s impassioned, desperate and mournful vocals, spill out like a man leading a charge over the top, as if every vocal phrasing is his last. The song gently carouses and consoles, wrapping itself around your soul and refusing to let go. ‘Lampblack’, closes proceedings in suitably, moribund style, with occasional glimpses of sunshine, before the clouds roll in and reset the dial back to so called ‘bummer jams’ to quote a recent interview with the band.
This album is quite the masterpiece, all the component parts of what make KWC essential listening are clear and present, but what has happened in the intervening years six years, is that the band have managed to reinvent themselves in terms of not just the overall approach they have tinkered with the song structures that render the tracks less glacial and sprawling but more immediate. Undeniably, this is still Kowloon Walled City, but a precision tooled version for 2021 and beyond. If you’re a fan of the band, then ‘Piecework’ will act as an affirmation that KWC are one of heavy music’s most gifted and essential bands. For those of you uninitiated or unfamiliar with their work, this gentle, yet heavy body of songs, is the perfect introduction to the band, before you dive deep into the mirk and gloom of their back catalogue. In summary, this album simply improves on every aspect of the band, from song structures, tone, ability to palette mix shades of grey, play with the quiet/loud dynamics that serve the song rather than being an in vogue musical conceit. This album is drenched in dirge, weariness, and gloom but ultimately, it’s an exercise in hope, exceptional song writing, exemplary playing, and a production that’s two parts brutalist and one part bloody and warm like a recently eviscerated badger. Beautifully written, played, and curated, Piecework is an absolute masterpiece.
(10/10 Nick Griffiths)
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