SUMAC - The Deal
April 8, 2015, 9 years ago
(Profound Lore Records/SIGE)
What a lineup: Aaron Turner has both Isis and Hydra Head Records on his resume, and Nick Yacyshyn plays drums in Baptists. Here the two are joined by bassist Brian Cook (Botch, These Arms Are Snakes) for this recording, so we've got some of the best minds in forward-thinking metallic hardcore brainstorming in Sumac. And the results are sort of what you might maybe kinda be thinking, but probably even heavier: "Thorn In The Lion's Paw" is a sludge-y metallic hardcore groover with lots of slightly off-kilter playing and a bit of a Keelhaul-esque vibe when it's not Old Man Glooming, and that 9-minute song sums up much of this six-track/54-minute album.
"Hollow King" gets even more difficult and heavier (and longer), the album by this point threatening to close in on itself it's so heavy, and so meandering (what exactly is going on through the middle of this song?). The meandering is a problem (come on, is that stuff interesting to anyone but the guys playing it?), but when things come crashing back in they manage to wipe it from your memory, that song in particular coming back with a serpentine near-post-hardcore riff that just rocks it, while "Blight's End Angel" brings to mind Knut if they got signed to Dischord Records, with fantastic drumming stealing the show (speaking of which: "The Deal" features one of the most interesting and decimating drum performances you're bound to hear this year, as does "Thorn In The Lion's Paw").