RILE
Pessimist
CHURCH ROAD Salt Lake City trio wrangle new shapes from their hardcore base
Given that this new Salt Lake City hardcore trio feature Cult Leader bassist Sam Richards on guitar and vocals, Rile’s debut album is unsurprisingly caustic as fuck. What is surprising is just how dynamic it is. The ferocious one-two punch of Dead End and Climb Out opens the record on a hectic note, dishing out dizzyingly technical Dillinger-esque riffs atop rambunctious hardcore punk rhythms. But from then on, Pessimist broadens out in a number of different directions. The stomping Hidden From Light, for instance, recalls the metallic noise rock of the last Helpless album, while the atmospheric, melodic epic Stone Tapes could have come straight from the Converge and Chelsea Wolfe collaboration. A very strong debut.
FOR FANS OF: Converge, Trap Them, Helpless
KEZ WHELAN
ROSA FAENSKAP
Jeg Blir Til Deg
FYSISK FORMAT Oslo’s LGBTQIA activists bring a new palette to black metal
This self-described “patricidal black metal trio” are waging war on the misanthropic, testosterone fuelled corners of the genre by injecting colour and vibrancy, while also illuminating LGBTQIA+ rights and equality. Even if you don’t speak a word of
Norwegian, sounds charged with a righteous fury. Musically it’s veryto the title track’s ethereal dreamscapes and wall of sound. utilises a frenetic crustpunk feel while the near-10-minute switches effortlessly between tranquil guitar delay and bludgeoning metal. It will be no surprise if Rosa Faenskap pick up a dedicated and loyal following with the quality of this debut album.
