FOR THOSE ABOOT TO ROCK: Riffs of Canada with Speaker (Toronto, Ontario)

By: Mark Tremblay

Album Type: EP

Date Released:10//11/2017

Label: Independent

Toronto’s best kept secret come into their own on this release, showcasing the 'core noise they have mastered, as well as incorporating new sounds into their wheel-house.

“Murder and Create” DD track listing:

1). Plaster

2). Bleach

3). Catch 22

4). Conscious Sleep

5). Cocoon

6). Eve

The Review:

Toronto’s best kept secret in metal and hardcore start to come into their own with the release of their new EP “Murder and Create”. The EP showcases the refined metalcore that Speaker has mastered, as well as new sounds that they are incorporating into their wheel-house.

The first half of the EP showcases a master class in metallic hardcore. Songs like “Plaster”,” Bleach”, and “Catch 22” flex a unique versatility in frenetic energy and dissonant guitars. The stop and turn nature of these tracks maximizes the weight of the riffs, and keeps the listener on their feet. The second half of the EP is where we hear the band reach into new territory. “Conscious Sleep” and “Eve” see the band going for more of a Gaza/Cult Leader approach; trading in their hardcore roots for a more atmospheric and doom-laden approach to heavy music.

While not everything lands perfectly on this record, it is great to see Speaker flex their creative muscles, and venture out into new territory. It will be great to see what happens next for the band.

“Murder and Create” is available here

Band info: Facebook || bandcamp

REVIEW: Ilenkus - "Hunger" (EP)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: EP
Date Released:  19/10/2016
Label: Independent

 

 

Ilenkus deliver a whirlwind blur of off-kilter riffage, pummelling blast beats and finger-mangling fretboard gymnastics.  Once the dust settles you will feel battered and bruised, but with a nagging urge to subject yourself to the pain all over again. 

 

“Hunger” DD track listing

 

1). Hunny Bunny

2). Pretty Secret

3). Exhume

4). The Romantic

 

The Review:

 

Galway quintet Ilenkusdeliver an impressive riffs-per-minute ratio on new EP “Hunger”. The band tears through four tracks of breathless mathematical mayhem in just under fifteen minutes. Once the dust settles you will feel battered and bruised with a nagging urge to subject yourself to the pain all over again.

 

“Hunny Bunny” starts proceedings with a whirlwind blur of off-kilter riffage, pummelling blast beats and finger-mangling fretboard gymnastics. The effect is like a more ragged Dillinger Escape Plan with their clinical precision blunted by ugly sludged-up fury. “Exhume” is a similarly intense affair opening with a wild collision of blown out post-rock and grindcore worthy of Cult Leader. From there things take a progressive turn into weirder, spacier territory without relenting on the vitriol.

 

Even when Ilenkusslow the tempo, there is no let-up in heaviness and complexity. “Pretty Secret” opens with a crushing needle-skip chug before exploring quieter sections of restless math-rock. This builds to a lumbering, doom finale that provides the EP’s most punishing moment. “The Romantic” sees the band dabble in churning noise rock groove, shards of serrated guitar providing an odd respite before the track once again plunges into a cauldron of molten rage.

 

“Hunger” is an exhilarating ride that takes in more twists and turns than most bands squeeze into a career. Hopefully it won’t be too long before Ilenkus return with an album of glorious chaos.

 

“Hunger” will be available here

 

Band info: FACEBOOK|| TWITTER|| INSTAGRAM|| BANDCAMP|| SOUNDCLOUD