"Ride the Relapse" is the debut full-length from peculiar Norwegian outfit Haust (on Fysisk Format), who lists amongst their incredibly diverse list of influences Darkthrone, The Locust, David Bowie, Rudimentary Peni, and The Jesus Lizard. And that rather twisted range of artists actually makes some sense after you experience Haust's own brand of mangled, well... "rock", for lack of a better term. They blaze through 13 relatively brief tracks in just about 24 minutes, and the overall backbone is made up of massive, pounding basslines and energetic chord progressions, but there's just a shitload of filthy, gritty distortion all over the place. And the vocals... the vocals really do sound like some kind of fucked up, Converge-esque take on weird, noise rocked black metal—just twisted, maniacally scathing sneers, yells, and wails with—yet again—some faint distortion hovering above. And that's just the beginning! Where things get really interesting is in the more discordantly textured riffs, which shift from looser and more indie-ish little twists to crisper, darker takes on the types of winding riffs more associated with the black metal of Haust's home country—granted all of these characteristics often tend to be delivered in a tightly rhythmic, subtly technical manner that tosses in yet another dimension to the band's overflowing melting pot of sounds. It's definitely a heavier, more explosive, wholly different take on this particular leaning, and the unique nuances that they're exploring certainly pay off, 'cause this is a really cool album that certainly leaves you wanting more. See for yourself:
Haust "The Filth"
Haust "Desperate Living"
Unfortunately this one's not distributed outside of Norway just yet, so you'll have to see about getting a copy straight from the band or the label (try them at the MySpace links above, or the online shop linked below). This one literally just hit the streets, though, so hopefully it'll start filtering out to more distro sources in the coming months.
Comments
Haust fucking rule.
6.17.2008 | By svein
greaaaat!!!!
6.17.2008 | By Carlos
Goddamn this is great; I was pretty much sold by the description, but I had to hear it to believe it. Tight as hell, and the David-Yow-gone-black-metal vocals are fucking awesome. Excellent post.
6.17.2008 | By Anonymous
Cool shit! Your description is right on. I’ll try to maybe track this down.
6.17.2008 | By Justin
tried to see these dudes in CPH last night, but they canceled! total bummer. I was really looking forward to it.
6.18.2008 | By Avi
pretty cool stuff. Production definately reminds me of Flight of the Wounded Locust, in a good way.
6.18.2008 | By kevin
This album is great, but I might be a little partial on this one, since I work in the recordstore that put this record out..
One thing’s for sure; the album just grows, and grows on you.. I first got a taste of these guys with their self-titled EP, and couldn’t wait for the full-length to show up.. And this is total destruction from start to finish..
6.21.2008 | By Chris