January 2023 Feature Release - The Revolution Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month's feature release for The Revolution, nominated by me (Shadowdoom9 (Andi)), is the 2002 sophomore full-length album by Swiss sludgy mathcore band Knut, Challenger. Knut made some of the best sludgy mathcore I've heard, especially in this album. If anyone here wants to add some more sludge spice into their metallic hardcore without too much of the former overpowering the latter, this is the perfect challenge. RIP vocalist Didier Séverin

https://metal.academy/releases/3163

Here's my review summary:

Lots of cool stuff you can find from Switzerland including metal bands Coroner, Samael, and Eluveitie, along with Tolberlone's triangular chocolates and Swiss Army Knives. Initially, the band only gained attention in Europe, but they would then be heard of in America thanks to Hydra Head Records releasing their first two releases. Challenger is an album that would challenge the Northern lands with unexpected expectations from their sludgy mathcore sound! One moment they have a Botch-like math-metalcore groove, and the next is slow sludgy intensity. The songs are decently short, each lasting up to 5 minutes, except for a monstrous 20-minute epic saved for last. All in all, it is expected to be unexpected. The intense music has evolved into one of the best albums I've heard of sludgy mathcore. This excellent music will catch your ears with this pummeling record, the perfect challenge that is Challenger!

5/5

Recommended tracks: "Whacked Out", "El Niño", "Neon Guide", "Ice Will", "March"

For fans of: Botch, Coalesce, Cult of Luna's 2001 self-titled debut

I've really enjoyed what I've heard of "Challenger" through the monthly playlists so I'm looking forward to checking it out Andi.

Yeah, this one's a ripper of a feature release Andi. I absolutely loved it! The raw hardcore aggression, the brilliantly executed mathcore technicality, the crushingly heavy sludge metal crunch... it's all sensationally executed with vocalist Didier Séverin totally slaying with his violent screams of pure hatred over the top. The musicianship is outstanding & the production is excellent. It's interesting that this release only has the mathcore tag at present because a good half of the album is sludge metal in one form or another. The first four tracks are very mathcore heavy but from there on it becomes a total sludge-fest (think Old Man Gloom or early Isis) with my favourite track on the album (i.e. "H/armless") being an industrial sludge monster & a couple of tracks even hinting at the post-sludge of Neurosis. I think I'll be posting a Hall of Judgement entry for this one. This is music to truly fuck shit up to & I regard it as a top five mathcore release for me overall. Outstanding stuff!

4.5/5

Glad you enjoy it, Daniel! There's already a Judgement entry for this album so you can vote here: https://metal.academy/hall/200

Thanks Andi. I've just voted YES on that one.

I'm in agreement that Challenger absolutely rips. It reminds me a lot of Altarage's Succumb, since the album ends up in a completely different place than where it started. Whereas Succumb starts out as intimidating and swirling Death Metal and slowly devolves into abyssal drone, Challenger begins as a tumultuous and chaotic Mathcore experience that ends up being more of a sludgy chugfest by the end. I've found that I really enjoy this sort of album progression since it worked for me on Succumb, but I think Knut does an even better job at it considering how different the two subgenres seem. I think that the 20 minute closer goes on for a bit too long for repeated listens for me, but it was awesome to see where they were going to go with it the first time around. 

I think this highlights my personal issue with Mathcore though, as even though I really enjoyed this album and, much like Botch's We Are The Romans, I'm going to give it a pretty high score, there's a good chance I won't return to it anytime soon. For me, these sorts of records are only really appealing to me if I'm in a certain mood, and sadly I think that mood is filled by other types of albums that I gravitate towards instead. While I agree that the vocals are impressive, they definitely wear on me given how long of an album Challenger is for this genre. All that being said though, this is a sick album that incorporates sludgy chug in a way that I haven't heard before and I'm 100% down for it. 

4/5