Crust punk from Aðalbjörn Tryggvason of Solstafir and more guests than you can shake a stick at? Oh ok go on then, I’m game. The cover though seems to be trying a little too hard; an 80s pastiche with regulation pictures that look like Thatcher and Reagan? Ah well, books and covers…
‘Viral Tumor’ pokes its head straight through the door, that immediate crusty riff and barrage, the taut vocals. It’s a great opener; urgent, aggressive, aggrieved with a couple of excellent breakdowns. Without a lyric sheet I have no idea what to make of the refrain ‘freedom from freedom’ means but with the title I’m guessing Covid..
‘Neonlight Blitzkrieg’ has a moody, short Solstafir-esque bit before we go into… Well, a downbeat weird hybrid of crust and doomy death metal really. Again, it’s really rather fine stuff and enough off the beam to have a breath and life its own. Which is where the title track takes its cue from, diving deeper in waters somewhere between Neurosis and the crust and it is just fantastic. The refrain sinks in immediately but the depth of the song, the wonderful midsection…oh this is great stuff. A genuinely emotional and affecting song. ‘Burn’ too keeps the basic crust drive but runs a similar if more urgent channel than the title track with some lovely speed metal guitar licks slung out there.
Time for a breather? Nah, not really. ‘The Whispering Beast’ tilts a little more back to the crust but with some great melodic flourishes and a neat death metal chug coming up to the mid-section.
‘Black Flag Fools’ with Alan Averill on vocals is another great punk/metal song but again you shouldn’t send stuff like this out without providing lyrics. If there’s a point to be made let us know what the point is. Otherwise, listeners tend to leap to uneasy conclusions. It’s a great song though and the vocals are in full force. ‘Afturhalds Kommantittir’ is a cool enough song, but after the previous one more a bridge to the swagger of ‘Rise Up’. No, no idea what again. But it’s a beast of a song with a huge stomp on the chorus and some excellent bass work. There’s a sombre melody here too which infuriatingly reminds me of something completely unconnected but is carried forward beautifully.
This is great hybrid album; influences from crust and grind through death metal and post hardcore with enough doomy and post rock melodic veins to top off an intriguing album.
If I knew what they were singing the score might have been higher, or lower. Who knows. Hope the actual album corrects this.
Regardless this is an unusual chimera and definitely worth hearing. Full of emotion, turmoil and anger with an almost effortlessly expressive musical vocabulary.
(8/10 Gizmo)
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