- Elementary Revolt

1/20/2007

Unhold - Loess

Tracklist

1 The Thick Gloss 4'25"
2 Hikikomori 3'50"
3 Steelbath 3'56"
4 Loess 5'27"
5 Aftermath 4'26"
6 Black Spot 4'25"
7 Pendulum 3'17"
8 Hand in Mouth 2'27"
9 Cutting Trees 6'16"
10 Blend In / Load Off 4'52"

Info

Hell yeah. Excellent hard-hitting material out of Switzerland here. How you'd "categorize" this I'm not sure, and I don't care, because it kills. Pounding rhythm focused chord progressions with scathing vocal screams, just the right amount of discordance and subtle melody, tons of gritty distorted textures across the board, etc. The recording is fucking stellar for this style of music as well. Everything is mixed tightly together without any gaps, so the percussion is totally natural and dense, you can hear the bass holding it down in the center, the guitars are hard panned and have an excellent level of clarity, and the vocals are deep against the music - adding in additional light distortion next to the guitar tone. I have zero fucking complaints about the production. None. The title track (fourth in line) is the first track to start out somewhat softer with some very faintly distorted guitars, gradually building up with percussion and bass, but never introducing vocals or full-blown heaviness - opting instead for a thicker melodic lead break/layered chord progression towards the latter moments. "Black Spot" opens with a lush fingerpicked passage over some soft volume swells, picking up into another of the more melodic and spacious compositions, this time cranking out some vocals and a heavier edge, leading into the faster and decidedly more rocked out brevity of "Pendulum" and "Hand in Mouth". The slowest and probably heaviest track, "Cutting Trees", surprises with some awesome singing vocals low in the mix just past midway through - a drastic change for the rest of the record that fits in perfectly and definitely calls for further attention. The layout is all done in high contrast black and white with a good deal of metallic silver, and it looks fucking awesome. Things are mostly made up of splotchy textures and whatnot, with a few recognizable insect wings and band photos. Lyrically things are fairly succinct and abstract, but still quite expressive: "The machines we built are heading back, Return to sender, Hell is up here, His helmet is fused to his head, Hit by the one he aimed, His hands are pieces of meat, He's facing up with his purpose - won't give in, Burn the flag as I am born, My sorrow's not for sale, Perception left so low and torn, Image and word proof to fail." I'd highly recommend this one for the Hydra Head crowd. Though definitely not the same beast at all this group is certainly aesthetically aligned with their fellow countrymen in Knut (and they also remind me of a nastier and less straightforward Helmet, which I view as a positive), so give this a shot.

AversionOnline

MySpace

http://www.myspace.com/unhold

DD

http://www.sendspace.com/file/e3pdaz

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1/20/2007

eraser at 12:51 p. m.