( continued ii )
Enter Geneva, Switzerland's Knut, whose 1998 debut 'Bastardiser' simultaneously exalted and defied the tenets of an increasingly disposable genre. Fusing their Swiss pedigree (Celtic Frost, anyone?) with the scathing discordance of their American counterparts (Converge) and the adventurous, self-confident swagger of their European contemporaries (Refused), Knut dropped a meticulously-constructed neutron bomb on hardcore's fragile psyche, and the fallout was considerable. Following up last year's self-titled EP, 'Challenger' delivers yet another flesh-flaying torrent of sonic whiplash, a mecanized death march that owes as much to Neurosis as it does to Snapcase. The album transforms rapidly as a spring-loaded guitar skronk is usurped by a wall of ringing notes, while plodding basslines lurch eerily in the periphery and vocalist Didier caterwauls like someone just removed his eyeteeth with a rusty pair of pliers. The album's pinnacle, however, is the 20-minute (!) closer, 'March', a heaving leviathan that plays like a prenatal funeral dirge for the next round of interchangeable hardcore hopefuls.
-J. Bennet
[ rock sound (uk) ]
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