Although normally ignoring them completely I could do with the PR blurb for this one but realise that it was a double sided one which was sent out with another release from the label. Work is cut out a bit especially as this band from St Petersburg have all their titling in native Russian. A quick snide look on the online translation engine tells me that the EP title is Proximity or Closer but that is as far as I am delving into anything else narrative lurking within these five short, violent tracks.
Put simply this is one to separate the men from the boys. The band’s style veers from raging segments of coruscating and flattening technically driven hardcore with glistening shards of mesmerising post rock. The latter parts are there in fragments just to level things out and it is the convoluted anger of the hate filled diatribe launched from the snarly vocals of Noek and the never standing still instrumental dynamics that really catch the attention. If I had not read up on this I would have probably taken a wild guess that this was a Swedish band as it has elements within the vortex that is flung out that remind of some of the wilder aspects of the scene. They may not quite hit the crust or d-beat buttons as they literally pound and explode through things but don’t come too far off and listening to the intricate collision of abrasiveness that underlies things it is evident that this lot can play. The shimmering gloom and doom of the stygian down tool parts comes as relief in much the same way one may expect from bands like the sadly defunct Altar Of Plagues but the nihilistic shred and blaze is never far away from stomping all over the listener and obliterating everything in its path.
This is only around the quarter of an hour mark but the way it pitches you through the maelstrom in such a short time is pretty damn impressive and better than many could achieve over a much longer playing time. I wonder what this lot are like live especially in a place where taking to the streets and rioting is not the cleverest idea at all. Check it out on vinyl, disc or at the link below and be prepared to be flattened.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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