The Pitch: Texas one-man mathcore/grindcore project The Sound That Ends Creation follows up the highly impressive 2017 EP with an even more experimental full length release. FFO: Psyopus, Spurn, Gadget
What I Like: The Sound That Ends Creation has come a long way in just two years. Chris successfully melted my brain with 2016's We Are The Burden, but just a year later completely outdid himself with the greatly expanded sound of Fitting Through The Crawl Space Between Rhyme And Reason. This brings us to Roses And Thorns And Dead Unicorns, which Chris promises to be his most experimental release to date. I'm inclined to agree.
If you thought that his past albums verged on insanity, this is that final push over the cliff. The vocals are more schizoid than ever, further developing on the bizarre, warbly cleans heard on the previous EP. Seemingly stream of consciousness spoken word jazz interludes offset the improvisational-sounding, Psyopus-esque grind. And in addition to Chris' voice, there are more audio samples than ever from the likes of Willy Wonka, Airplane!, and Billy Madison. The instrumentation is, in a word, certifiable. It's a chaotic jumble of the aforementioned jazz (complete with piano, funky bass, and sax), death-tinged grindcore, abrasive Calculating Infinity mathcore, and some even more oddball experimentation with rock and post-metal.
Critiques: The direction taken on this album is ultimately a mixed bag for me. While I respect taking risks over complacency, there are certainly moments where my enjoyment is derailed in response to the innovation. For instance, the whole "mirror mirror" thing on the first track rubs me the wrong way. There was a time when I thought that Korn's "Shoots and Ladders" was clever and edgy, but that period of my life has long since passed. I'm also not a fan of the late chord progression on "Santa Jesus..." or the discordant leads towards the end of "If You're Going To Be Two Faced..." Believe me, I understand the role of dissonance in this genre, but there's a line to be drawn. In general, I feel like Fitting Through... had a stronger harness on the chaos. This rabid dog is off the leash.
The Verdict: Chris, you've gone too far. This is madness...but ultimately that's what I love about this project. In an endless sea of normative, mainstream heavy music; things have gotten a little too...safe. Roses And Thorns will not give you comfort: only unbridled, and often anxiety-provoking, creativity. While I do think that The Sound That Ends Creation still has room to better balance bedlam with order, it remains a brave project more worthy than the latest top seller of recycled ideas.
Flight's Fav's: There Isn't A Bus Short Enough..., Fucky The Drunk Clown..., Unfortunately, the Tide Pod...
- Review by FlightOfIcarus
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