thedowngoing - athousandyearsofdarkness

Much like watching a film that's most enjoyable when everything seems to have gone wrong or gotten weird (like Altered States) the best part of thedowngoing is seeing how far they will spiral out of control. The band thankfully doesn't just devolve into painful noise, but rather straddles a horizon of experimentation and familiar grindcore tropes  to create a sound that can't be cornered.

The noisy grind duo have gotten pretty damn close to perfecting the art of being incoherent as their latest athousandyearsofdarkness, is an atonal compactor of jagged riffs, vocals pushed as far as possible  and cascading drums that threaten to bludgeon everything else out of the picture. Grindy, angular riffs reminiscent of Discordance Axis splash against "out-there" pinches and strums that complement the samples, drums, modulated vocals, and everything else that's filling this kitchen sink to the brim.

As I said in my review of their previous ep, thedowngoing isn't something I'd usually find myself coming back to, but like early grindcore, part of the enjoyment is seeing them on the brink of chaos and controlling it and coming back to (relative) safety. Try and remember when you first heard Scum, there's a constant thought that during elongated blasts (like that of "Instinct of Survival") that the band might just fall apart and their limbs would just fly off their bodies trying to keep up with the bar of fury they set. That's the same sort of enjoyment thedowngoing captures, especially with tracks like "hope[sic]" and "snakecharmer."

Much more cohesive and fulfilling than their previous efforts, thedowngoing have done a great job in riding an aggression and weirdness that seems to be lacking from so many grindcore bands today. On another note, the lyrics are a nice surprise as they're a an uncomfortable linage of vignette meets stream of consciousness that will spark your curiosity and imagination.

This one's a real grower.

thedowngoing
thedowngoing bandcamp