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Released via Church Of Fuck / Swarm Of Nails
The delightfully monickered Church Of Fuck has been putting out a slew of solid releases for a couple of years now, and is fast developing a reputation as the home of hateful hardcore in the UK. The label's latest release, a split tape between label mainstays Esoteric Youth and the recently reactivated Caïna, is set to further continue its already sterling track record.
With Andrew Curtis-Brignell's solo project, you never quite know what you're going to get. His output can vary from relatively straight-ahead black metal, to unsettling ambience, to moments of true beauty, and here he has absorbed the influence of his newfound home label, and delivered two concise cuts of blackened hardcore. His first contribution 'We Sleep', a self-described "mantra-weapon against Abrahamic slave-shackle eschatology", is almost like two entirely seperate tracks, so radically does the second half of the song differ from the first.
The first couple of minutes are chock full of pummeling blastbeats and vicious vocals, while the latter half of the track manages to fuse shrill organ, layered guitars and Curtis-Brignell's searing voice into a heart-aching slow burner that has the ability to truly move you. Stunning work.
Caïna's second contribution to this split veers between a feral punk snarl and tortured black howls, and is really far too short to give all the ideas present the time to develop that they deserve. I want to hear it again immediately, but the beauty of tapes is you need to play through both sides to get any sort of enjoyment from them, so it's a great relief that playing through Esoteric Youth's side to 'rewind' the tape is such a pleasure.
Well, I say pleasure, but the squall of feedback that introduces 'Kvarblivelse' makes it abundantly clear that this will be anything but pleasurable! Barrelling headlong into the kind of grind-inflected hardcore that the CoF scene seems to have adopted so effortlessly, Esoteric Youth incorporate chilling tremolo and a relentless rhythm that occasionally borders on D-beat into their already potent mix.
'Förlåt' is as indescribable as it's name would suggest, its woozy, disorienting guitar lines overlaid on churning rhythms and harsh vocals buried under layers of effects. As much as I dislike merely comparing bands, fans of the likes of Trap Them and Full Of Hell will find a new favourite band in Esoteric Youth. Absolutely blistering.
Don't hesitate to grab a copy of this tape ahead of Caïna's tenth anniversary show this July, where Andrew Curtis-Brignell will bring his solo project to life with a full band comprised of members of Esoteric Youth and fellow Church Of Fuck disciples Old Skin, at what's sure to be an unmissable, intense event. (See the Fecebook event page here for more details).
