The latest from French "screamo"/post-hardcore act Sofy Major is this excellent one-sided 12" (with screenprinted artwork on the other half of the vinyl) released by Communication is Not Words and Emergence Records. And while there's just four tracks in 17 minutes, it's also the band's most diverse and aggressive work to date, having expanded their approach with much darker atmospheric undercurrents. This time out the recording utilizes an oppressive mix that really thickens up their attack with loads of surging heaviness and pulsing basslines against whirring layers of electronic noise and a few tactfully placed samples, while the scathing screams and some of the more caustic guitar work fall back into the distance a bit. The songwriting continues to demonstrate a lot of growth here, as the band continues to refine their tactics and achieve a greater sense of focus at the same time as tossing in the aforementioned new textures, while briefly flirting with other outside influences such as the thundering percussion and spoken vocals of "Satan", or the unexpected yet awesome "stoner rock" riffs towards the end of " Meurtre à Lezoux". Some of this material is actually starting to remind me of what Isis was doing on their first two EP's, but Sofy Major's not really coming from a metal-based background, so the end result has a little more going on beneath the surface. This is another great release from a curious group that's getting better and better. They've always been deserving of more appreciation, but now more than ever...
Comments
Totally with you on this one ... as much as I appreciate latter-day Isis, it’s good to see a band take their cues from the band who wrote “Hive Destruction” for a change. And that highway metal riff at the end was totally unexpected; I always had a casual interest in this band, but this song is finally enough to make me want to buy the record immediately.
7.7.2009 | By zg