King Yosef : "An Underlying Hum"

 This guy is an artist I have been on the fence about. Was not into the collaboration he did with Youth Code, as I just wanted another Youth Code album and not the kind of noise he was bringing to the table. Now it's hard for him to catch a break as everyone is comparing this album to Code Orange's "Underneath" album which is a high bar to measure it by. There is a more nu-metal feel to the second song that works better than what happened on the previous song, which was still pretty decent. There is a chanted vocal that is effective. Kurt Ballou produced this album so it is going to have a more organic feel than if this was Ross Robinson. 

It is fair to say this album is more hard-core than it is industrial. People wowed by the nu-metal elements must forget that nu-metal came out of the hard-core scene. The first time I saw Korn they were opening up for Sick of it All. Is Ole Yosef aware of this, mmm I dunno. I am sure he thinks he is making next-level shit. I like the sung vocal to "Nameless". The rest of the song thumps around a darker gritty side of what bands were doing in the 90s. After this, there is an interlude of noise and blast beats. This is followed by a brief screamed stomping breakdown but still feels more like an interlude. "Drift Below" is more like a really dark power ballad. It builds into the hammering screamed grooves that this album finds as its middle course. The most effective moment is when it breaks down into a bass line. "Pulling on a Thread" steps away from everything and is more like 90s alternative rock. Pretty decent song. 

The last couple of songs range from a more industrial piece that turns into ambiance with spoken word in the distance to the title track which is a darker more experimental excursion into more spoken word. This feels closer to artists like Ghostemane.  I  will give this album an 8.5, it's a great deal better than what I expected going into this, a more song-focused. Sure there is a noise element but much more balanced on the side of melody and hard core than harsh industrial noise.