CONVULSIF : "Anatomy of Rage"

The Swiss progsters are on the more experimental side of things with a fetish for odd time signatures that form their own droning grooves. The opening track feels like a riff Sleepytime Gorilla Museum just had lying around and never developed into a song. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and wrote it off as an intro. Then on "Being Put Down," there is more of a John Zorn vibe, with chaotic horns coming in before the song slows into a whispered groove. I will say right now that if all the vocals are whispered like this, it will only take two songs before I get bored.

Jazz does seem to be firmly infused in this project's DNA. The thumping bass is the heaviest thing they have going so far, though it is dark in a weird way that has not quite come to me yet. The noir-ish shadows continue to be cast on "Sound Footing' when it hits me that this is going to be more of a jazz album than a metal album. "Facing the Fasces" does find the drumming punchier and getting the rumble of the bass to accent it. It feels more like an incomplete, though dynamic, album despite its building momentum. In some ways they are not unlike the post-2000s Swans. 

The whispering is back on "Development," which feels like the Central Scruntinizer from"Joe's Garage".  This song is where they forgot that to be progressive, your songs have got to go somewhere, and it is not about a quirky idea that goes nowhere. This is applied to " Grind Your Tusks " as a minute; it feels more like a grindcore ditty. More whispering as things simmer to life on "the Pitch, the Plight, the Polymer," which is over 19 minutes. I like the darker feeling explored here. Ten minutes in and not much changes aside from a swell of noise. Then the bass shifts the groove to give a more serpentine slither. I will give this one a 7.5 they have some good ideas, just need to flesh them out more into songs. 

pst804