Sounding for the most part like the audible equivalent of a cartoon fight in which the combatants disappear amid a dizzying cloud of dust, French foursome Deathengine kick up such a furious swirl on their debut that they too rapidly disappear in a maelstrom of thunderous post-hardcore-meets-noise-rock clatter, a rabid cacophony of feedback, clashing cymbals and feral angst through which survives scant few legibly brooding passages of music.
Before you know it the first three tracks, the riff-hulking tension-builder Medusa and the two dogfights that follow, are over, leaving only tinnitus in their wake.
An acoustic interlude serves only to create the opportunity to rebuild to boiling point, the rude awakening by means of a fist that is Entertain, the record’s apoplectic epicentre.
It’s all thrillingly exhilarating, if not entirely original; Converge having already blazed a trail wide enough for plenty of their ilk to battle along, but nevertheless the fury of it all keeps your attention for the majority of the ride, even if it sounds like the wheels arealways just about to fall off./o:p
