Release
date: March 18th 2016 . Label: Exile On Mainstream
Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl
Carrier
– Tracklisting
1.
I Can’t Play It
2.
Lift Yourself
3.
Sand Mountain
4.
Facepunch Transport Layer
5.
Sachsenheim
6.
Triumph Of Death
Review:
If
there was one way of describing Carrier, the latest album by Black
Shape Of Nexus it would be bleak, unflinchingly and defiantly bleak
to be more precise and the six songs that make up Carrier are as
bleak as it gets. The fact that one the the bands previous albums is
titled Negative Black tells you a lot about the band.
Amongst
the overriding bleakness though there is an insane catchiness to the
riffs that merge well with the overriding sense of doom you get when
listening to this album with the brilliantly titled Facepunch
Transport Layer a prime example of this, although this track as with
the others is ultra aggressive and heavy as well, the vocals in
particular sound like direct threats.
The
sounds that Black Shape Of Nexus mix up go a long way to defining
this bleakness with doom, sludge and noise elements all absorbed and
spat out with a degree of spite that's admirable while ambient
passages and great slabs of drone create an unnerving atmosphere
throughout and the result takes your breath away.
From
the off the bleakness is unavoidable with opening track I Can't Play
It starting off with an atmospheric intro complete with what sounds
like the epitome of human suffering before a lurching and
intimidating riff kicks in and sets the tone for the rest of the
album.
Carrier
is full of atmosphere throughout, the majority of which is
uncomfortable and creates a feeling of panic but that only adds to
the experience, Lift Yourself is a prime example this feeling on the
album, a track that lulls you into a false sense of security before
devouring the listener whole as do the tracks that end the album,
Sachsenheim and Triumph Of Death (a title and track that sounds like
Celtic Frost with added sheer hatred).
At
its bleakest and best, Carrier sounds like an unholy mixture of
Hellhammer (of course!) and the aforementioned Celtic Frost with
added dashes of Iron Monkey, Unsane, Black Anvil and Villains, all at
their heaviest and when you add in the darkness of the atmospherics
it takes the feeling of dread to another plateau.
In
the majority of music there is a positivity contained within and even
the more negative sounds can contain a glimpse of hope to it, a light
at the the end of the tunnel, with Black Shape Nexus there is nothing
at the end of the tunnel, only the bleak approach of sheer darkness
and an unsettling feeling, and it is this feeling that defines Black
Shape Nexus and on Carrier and it sound glorious.
Words
by Gavin Brown
Carrier
will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Exile On Mainstream
Records from March 18th
2016.
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