And so the boundaries between what is referred to and accepted as ‘punk’ or ‘metal’ are further blurred with this release. I fully expected the worst from this, with the overblown and pretentious song-titles combining with the fact that it’s released on a label from which I am yet to find a single artist I actually like…but this is not the zeitgeist-courting quiet-loud screaming crap that is so prevalent from many of the larger Stateside labels. This veers pleasingly towards the more inventive of metal and hardcore – note: not metalcore, grindcore, grindmetalcore or whatever other spurious genre you want to invent.
From the schizophrenic opener ‘Lost Perfection a) Coultrophobia’ which effortlessly swings between ten-fingered riffing and some distinctly Children of Bodom-esque licks to a groove-laden breakdown section to it’s sister track ‘b) Anablephobia’ you get the idea that everything has been turned up to eleven and things are going to get broken. The sheer speed of the double kick-drumming is at times mind-boggling (if you like that sort of thing…I do) as well as the inventive interplay between guitar and bass as well as the atmospheric vocal performance. ‘Camilla Rhodes‘ is indefinable, since it switches from metal lick to hardcore vocals to DEP-style interlude, never once giving any indication of the direction in which it’s going to travel next.
I think this is a brave release from Victory, since it does not fit flush with anything I’ve heard from them previously, and as such I applaud them. The entire record can be summed up in ‘Mordecai’, which slips from heavy bit to heavier bit to a genuinely affecting melodic section, complete with reflective vocals and consistently impressive guitar work in the background. What impressed me about this was that it did not sound bolted on or cynical, but an extension of the band’s sound. It’s still recognisable in terms of the other tracks, due to the ever-present and astonishing drumming and general tone, but for a band to switch styles so confidently is fantastically inventive. It feeds gracefully into ‘Reaction’ and ‘(Shevanel Take 2)’, another calmer yet still powerful track that has got to be one of the year’s best in my opinion.
One of the things I like about this album is its bravery and confidence in changing pace and approach. It’s like the entire band is very eclectic in terms of taste and that shows through in the mutated mix of…well, whatever you’d call this. ‘Ad a dglgmut’ (yes, ‘Ad a dglgmut’) shifts into the heaviest of hardcore again, swerving from sludgy to frantic in an instant and the closing ‘The Need For Repetition’ begins with some computer game midi bleeps before crunching home again. I suppose it’s obvious that I think this is a fantastic album, but I know it won’t be to many people’s tastes, either because it escapes genre or because it’s just fucking crazy. But if you like heavy stuff, or if you just fancy something interesting then check it out.
Ben