Hope Collapse "Year of the Leper" CD
[Inkblot]
This band sees a few former members of Black Army Jacket teaming up with the infamous Dave Witte on drums for a mere 14 minutes of raging material that comes off as a cross between classic grindcore, thrash metal, and black metal - where every track kind of has its own unique focus going on. After a brief ambient sort of intro that doesn't do much for me, "Cold Steel Penetrates Your Flesh" immediately launches into a fairly fast blast with an unexpected black metal tinge contrasted by a chunkier rhythm that has a hardcore vibe. "Sunday School Dropouts" is then more moderately paced and discordant with quirky winding riffs and a very different playing style compared to the other material; while "Little Warsaw" is slightly more tangible and jumps from classic fast hardcore rhythms to fits of tremolo picking. "Artificial Light" revisits a little bit of the Norwegian black metal vibe but definitely tosses in some strange chord phrasings to mix it up (not to mention letting the basslines finally have more room), though oddly I find this to be the least powerful track of the EP... I don't know, something about it just doesn't feel as ferocious as the other songs. And then closer "Leper Convention" is the thrashiest track through and through, maintaining a pretty streamlined feel that ends up being a little more memorable than the other cuts. It took me a few minutes to get used to the recording, which is pretty damn raw, but it works. I think the guitar tone has a little bit too much of a thin bite to it for what they're doing (the guitar tone definitely has a little of that classic black metal aesthetic happening), and the bass is hard to make out, but everything else is solid. The drums are slightly muffled but of course sound 100% natural, which is cool because of course the drumming kicks ass - tight as fuck, and since the material covers a lot of tempos and influences, Witte has a lot of space to go wild. The vocals are also nice and spacious, which allows plenty of gritty texture to seep through despite keeping them reigned in against the music. Turning up the bass (or at least differentiating it) and smoothing out the guitars just a tad would be nice, but it's no big deal. For an intentionally rugged sound this is among the more effective approaches. The layout is absolutely fucking stellar on this thing, using sketchy illustrations and spattered textures with a minimal color scheme that makes excellent use of metallic bronze ink and really crisp, clean text arrangements. They lyrics are somewhat cryptic and cover a variety of styles from the violent to the personal or simply twisted commentary on who knows exactly what: "They gather close to congress, Each watching the other's reaction, Faking hard to impress, Pleading confirmation..." Good stuff. It's over in a flash, but there's some strong material offered up. I'm not sure what the band's status will be like as far as overall activity, but keep an eye out... (7/10)
Running time - 14:24, Tracks: 6
[Notable tracks: Cold Steel Penetrates Your Flesh, Sunday School Dropouts, Leper Convention]
Inkblot Records - http://www.inkblotrecords.com

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