Having found a home on the new label venture of Ben Weinman, and having been handpicked for roster membership by the Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist himself, you get the hint that Primitive Weapons don’t fly on the straight and narrow.
And despite guitarist Arthur Shepherd’s history of playing with members of the more melodic hardcore and indie-leaning rock of Quicksand (with Walter Schreifels in World’s Fastest Car and alongside Tom Capone in Instruction), Primitive Weapons’ guise leans more towards a pairing of that melodic sensibility with a grip of chaos.
Lead-off track Ashes Or Paradise spins a web of New Jersey street fight rhythms and almost balladic tendencies, while Night Eyes refers back to those oddball days when NYHC embraced bands like Orange 9mm, Vision Of Disorder and Life Of Agony. An experimental bent is included on Whistle Past The Graveyard, which runs the metallically acceptable indie-rock of Failure, Hum and Cave-In through space rock’s melody maker. The result is engaging for prog heads and those who enjoy variety in their sonic experience; maybe not so much for people seeking out lines of clarity and musical linearity. One to watch nonetheless.
