I\u2019ll admit that I was intrigued when I read that Sextile\u2019s new album A Thousand Hands<\/i> was tagged as \u201cpost-punk,\u201d \u201cindustrial punk,\u201d and <\/i>\u00a0\u201csurf punk.\u201d\u00a0 Calling something both \u201cindustrial\u201d and \u201csurf\u201d seems\u2026contradictory. But upon listening to it, I would have to say that all those descriptions apply, but not necessarily at the same time. However, the sound is as compelling as it is intense. The Los Angeles-based quartet describes their sound as \u201cdark primitive post-punk from outerspace.\u201d While I would not disagree with this appraisal, the closest thing I can compare it to (for reference) is 1980s-era Butthole Surfers (i.e. \u201cLocust Abortion Technician,\u201d a personal favorite of mine). The lurching guitar riffs and roaring feedback mixed with the straight-16th drumming give it that nightmarish aura that few bands are able to pull off. But be warned: This is not for everyone. <\/i><\/p>\n
Beginning with the slow, ominous drone of the title track, we can tell right away this isn\u2019t about to be a collection of quirky love songs. The vocals buried in the mix make it hard to make out any of the words, but the anguish in the voice comes through clearly. Following on this comes \u201cFlesh,\u201d with the reverb-drenched \u201csurf rock\u201d style riff, and then the frenetic \u201cI Can\u2019t Take It.\u201d Other tracks, like \u201cTruth And Perception\u201d and \u201cShattered Youth\u201d come across as brooding and dark with the warped guitar and synth sounds. \u201cInto The Unknown\u201d sounds reminiscent of The Swans. Bookending the album is another slow, ambient instrument called \u201cThe Introvert.\u201d Its simplicity and relative clarity seem to be a good way to cleanse the palate and ease the transition back into everyday reality. <\/p>\n
According to a recent interview, the band draws its name (Sextile) from \u201can astrological term\u00a0relating to harmony and the ease of expression of two conflicting elements.\u201d In a way, this is apropos for the album\u2019s pacing changes up the dynamics between fast and slow, loud and quiet, chaotic and mechanical, which, combined with the dense and dissonant style, creates this intense chemistry within the songs. This is that kind of cathartic noisy art-rock that knows damn well it can only survive on the fringes. It is too unhinged for the mainstream radio\u2026but that\u2019s what makes it great.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":32489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9701],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-44250","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-sextile","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44250"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}