This project has always leaned in the direction of the abrasive end of industrial. This album pushed that even further with its increasingly confrontational aggression. Sonically harrowing would be one way to describe what is going down here. The mechanical stomp of industrial is captured here. 'Glimmer' is a more melodic and darker song, but with a very reverb-drenched mix that sets the vocals at the end of a dark tunnel. It's cool sounding, but not sure if it is really hooking into my ears to make itself an album I return to, but the further I dig into this, the more will be revealed.
"Vi Coactus" has a more driving beat. It does not really groove but moves more like a hard-core band might when it stomps into motion. "Lichen" finds it ebbing back down into distant sung vocal haunting the background, before a more crunching guitar roars back at you. When they do find a groove midway into the song, it's effective and the most powerful moment so far. "Doomtown" goes spastic when you think it is going to lock into a groove more like the previous song. The extremes the songs are pushed to can play against what makes it memorable, battling against the urge to crumble into noise.
"Wither" starts off with a more ambient tone. But at this point, you are waiting for things to explode. It does as expected midway through things. By the end of the song, things lock into a more purposeful crunch. "Blue Morning" is atmospheric in its pulse with the vocals giving a ghostly croon, before the guitars creep in, offering their most accessible moment so far."Walter" floats along with a lo-fi haze with Stone Roses-like vocals hovering around it. A woozy shoe-gaze vibe flows with this. It does explode, though waits longer to do so than the previous formulas they have used.
The title track roars with a more abrasive venom than most. The song lashes out as the abstract form of the song, lingers between outbursts. "Everything's Point of Origin" has a more traditional industrial feel thanks to the groove of the bass line. They are halfway through the song before the vocals come in. I will give this album a 9, as it places the intense sounds painting this sonic canvas ahead of hooky songwriting, but this is done in an artfully punk manner that does not seek to conform to things like making music to dance or sing along to. Drops August 15th on Bleak House
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