A rather nifty little promo from Hummus records, hand numbered for the media can you believe and presenting a couple of heavyweight acts each with its own style creating a contrasting split release. There seems to have been a fad on split releases, with labels using the medium to good effect and usually on limited editions. First up on this split is Swiss act Abraham, a band I have reviewed for the sites legacy website a few years ago. With only one track to digest you might think “Chasing Dragons, Chasing Light” offers only a glimpse of the band’s style but you’d be mistaken as it clocks in at over 16 minutes and takes the listener on an aural spectacle that starts with electronic rumbling akin to a sci-fi flick as the guitar gradually fades in before erupting into life with frenetic riffing and shouted vocals. Probably not to everyone’s taste the shouty vocal style can be hard to bear but when you are bombarded by chaotic and dissonant melodies they fit the ethos perfectly. As you’d expect the style has that post hardcore guise, a genre tag I don’t particularly like, as this tune is difficult to pin down with occasional post rock being tempered with progressive work also. The huge drop in pace to a virtual ambient blackened phase shows the broadness and depths the band ploughs through for creative sonic trickery. Even the downward slump into sludge territory is bastardised with kick drum thumping as the tune cultivates the listener with sonorous torture.
Coilguns is a band I’ve followed for some time now since being introduced to them through reviewing and I’ve caught this Swiss bands energetic and tremendous live show a couple of years back at some seedy boozer that is now sadly defunct for live gigs. Three tunes are paraded here and start with the relatively short “Drainers”, a riotous and raucous modernised hardcore assault that swerves between unpredictability and pristine volatility. The multi pronged vocal assailing works well with the spiky riff incursions but still harnessing melody and that hint of being catchy. The gargantuan, nearly 13 minutes, of “The Archivist” has tranquil percussiveness and ambient guitar work weaving tightly like sonic story telling. The tune builds up epically and felt very 80s to me before an eventual bass line is injected. Eerily conceived with melancholy sprinkled liberally with the various effects the tune is actually quite laid back. There are obvious comparisons to The Ocean but those touches hover around momentarily before some deft lead work is blended in ever so subtly. Closing the EP is “Leveling” and sends the listener straight back to how the bands trio of songs started with torturously screamed vocals, creating an agonised feel amongst the hard hitting hardcore furore.
Branching out from the confines of your normal listening fodder should be what most music fans crave and if you’re new to this style of music or are just plain nosey then this is very worth getting hold of, plus the added bonus of obtaining a really unique product as these bands often produce exquisite packaging for their releases and this will have its own unique branding as well whether on CD or vinyl. Added to that Hummus makes all their releases freely available for download (link is below) if you want to check them out before purchase but in today’s freeloading society of music I urge you buy if you like what you hear, it’s what enables bands to continue with their endeavours.
(8/10 Martin Harris)
https://www.facebook.com/coilguns
http://hummusrecords.bandcamp.com/
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