Knut - 'Challenger' (Hydra Head) Review by Chris
At last! Swiss noise-merchants, Knut have achieved a standard they've been threatening since their debut 'Bastardizer', and in such have arrived at somewhat of a junction point for themselves and for the scene as a whole. This is so representative of the noise-core sound as it stands in 2002, that it begs the question where does it all go from here. The grand, epic, crushing production along with some of the material recalls Isis, while the incredibly enjoyable, hideous, dissonant chords, which pervade the harmony throughout the album are reminiscent of the best Kiss it Goodbye had to offer. Accompanying these features is some interesting rhythmic interplay now standard in these post Coalesce/Botch/Dillinger days, while there is a sense of despair and dirtiness, only previously utilised to any effect with Converge, the band who definitely put the 'noise' into noise-core. Overall the sound sits comfortably between the scene leaders, never reaching anything like the speed or technical wizardry of Dillinger, but providing the music with enough energy to avoid the destitute landscapes of Neurosis.
Track five, 'Neon Guide' provides us with some variety from the slightly samey storm built up, with an effective slow building idea which bears fruit in an almighty crushing riff a minute and a half into the song. The following onslaught, 'H/armless' (!), revolves entirely around a repetitive tribal-like rhythm, such a hypnotic, minimalist approach providing some much needed space to an otherwise slightly clustered (in a good way!) album. '58.788' pushes the listener further into a false sense of security with its chilled out, contemplative, spacey acoustic melee, only for album highlight, 'Ice Will' to knock him/her back into . . .
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