Into The Storm

Raising a bloody arm from beneath the flotsam in an impenetrable sea of internet sludge come Into The Storm, delivering gruff post-metal with elements of crust punk, angular ambience and Bosh-y algebra. 'Captains' places the fictional leaders of its song titles into grave crises, but these characters seem to be a vessel for some deeply personal treatises on mortality, futility and catastrophe, all exorcised with a familiar lacerated growl. It's the kind of concept you'd see from Down I Go, who is now DEAD. Musically it's not a million miles away either, albeit with rougher edges.

God save rough edges. That 'Captains' hasn't been polished into a shiny black sphere is a real blessing. There's a host of experimentation going on ( 'Bodi Zephyr' anchors on and goes off-road into some nasty free noise), but it always sounds like they're on this journey together, rather than a muso studio exercise,. 'John Jameson' boasts some teeth-rattling bass drone and terrible, flat, choked-off lead parts. I love those. That's not to say the EP is without its delicate moments: 'Jean Luc Picard' may start like a PMT Genghis Khan and end in an avalanche of colliding racket and backwards guitars, but between times they do some nice post-landscape gardening. The songs can take on a life of their own, but rarely lose focus.

'K'nuckles' is a straight-up granny-scarer that sort of washes over me, but final track 'Walter White' illuminates an fascinating future opening out ahead of Into the Storm. Off-key chords are bashed out on something that sounds like it's been fashioned out of the blades of an egg slicer and a biscuit tin, the bass carrying the melody. When the distortion kicks in, the bass goes off on some mad Persian rampage. Cracking. The epilogue is a disturbing singalong shanty about 'sifting through the raging dark current'. With this kind of left-field spirit allied to their more textbook assaults, there's plenty to get your teeth into here.

#Crust #Experimental #Into The Storm #Post-metal #Stubble #Darren Bibby