Lickgoldensky "s/t" CD
[Level-Plane]
More vicious and chaotic material from this act, here in slightly different form with lots of electronic noise interludes between tracks and no visible song titles. The general direction, while along the same lines as their last full-length, is a bit different as well. For instance, the third track is much more laidback and melodic, with spacious post-hardcore riffing and vocals that touch on restrained singing in some ways. But a number of other tracks are, as usual, much heavier and more in your face, achieving varying levels of caustic guitar and vocal textures with relentless screams and jarring note combinations. The fifth track is a bit more linear and rhythmically focused in the guitar department (the drumming, on the other hand is totally off the hook with wild fills and patterns), and a few spurts of singing vocals break in as well... so things are definitely getting more constantly dynamic with these guys at this point. Hell, the seventh song is so stripped down as far as distortion and quirky in the vocal department that it has a major Amphetamine Reptile thing happening. Very unexpected. Not the best song herein by a longshot, but not bad either. There are a few shorter and much more intense pieces as well, sometimes shedding most all hints of melody in favor of cackled vocal patterns and stuttered chord progressions, other times taking the sheer noisiness and contrasting it with subversive elements of melody. The recording is absolutely fucking awesome. The rhythm section sounds like a million bucks, thick and warm with enough clarity to make it by, and the guitars are a little thinner and clearer so they fall in line with the vocals. But the mix is awesome as well, so it's cohesive but still detailed, there's no confusion or separation in the mix despite a good amount of layering and abrasive madness. The artwork is all high contrast white, pink, and yellow (bright as fuck) with three two-sided card inserts rather than a booklet. Each insert has rounded corners and the cover has a circle die-cut in the center as well. The lyrics (and all other text) are jammed into one column that continues down all three cards in one block, with no real designation of any actual song titles or anything. Very strange. The content is bizarre as well: "Now it's time to downsize the uprise until both of us are me circumcise your sights, You don't need to see, Now it's time to downsize the uprise..." The only bad aspect of this record are the in-between snippets. I really don't care for the interludes at all, not only because their quality is sub par (in fact, some of them are outright fucking terrible to an inexcusable degree), but because they disrupt the flow of the actual songs a lot, and the songs are very good, so a more focused 20-minute effort would've harnessed more impact without a doubt. Still, those flaws don't hold back the true content here, so former fans of the band and those looking for something chaotic and rhythmic but also relatively innovative for its style should look into this one. There are some amazing moments on this thing. I actually like the core of this better than their previous work. (7/10)
Running time - 30:45, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: they're all untitled]
Level-Plane Records - http://www.level-plane.com

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