Album
Type: Full-Length
Date
Released: 19/08/14
Label: Self-Release
“Twilight Upon Us” DD track list:
1). Stockholm '73 (03:32)
2). Guiding Light (03:01)
3). Play the Game (03:28)
4). Alternate Dimensions (02:59)
5). Weep for the Future (03:58)
6). Drought (03:59)
7). Sleepwalking (03:34)
8). These Three Words (2:28)
9). Ready to Burn (03:15)
10). Kevins Song (10:40)
Bio:
Los Angeles sludgecore
unit, COLOMBIAN NECKTIE, is
readying to unleash their mammoth debut full-length, Twilight Upon Us, upon unsuspecting
masses.
Named in honor of a song by Big Black but more commonly known as a method of murder where the victim's throat is slashed and the tongue is pulled through the open wound, COLOMBIAN NECKTIE’s Twilight Upon Us, produced by Erol “Rollie” Ulug (Graf Orlock) at Bright Lights Studios, is the sonic equivalent of this violent and visceral act boasting thirteen maniacal tracks of dark, riff-heavy, emotionally stirring audio menace.
Named in honor of a song by Big Black but more commonly known as a method of murder where the victim's throat is slashed and the tongue is pulled through the open wound, COLOMBIAN NECKTIE’s Twilight Upon Us, produced by Erol “Rollie” Ulug (Graf Orlock) at Bright Lights Studios, is the sonic equivalent of this violent and visceral act boasting thirteen maniacal tracks of dark, riff-heavy, emotionally stirring audio menace.
Since forming in the Los Angeles
in the Fall of 2010, the band -- vocalist Scott Werren, guitarists Juan
Hernandez-Cruz and Ben Daniels, drummer Ben Brinckerhoff and bassist Alex
DuPuis -- has earned a reputation for their punishing riffs and maniacal DIY
work ethic. Though clearly rooted in hardcore, tracks like the syncopated,
sludgy death march of "Play The Game" and midtempo thrash of
"Drought," complete with squealing synths, add a welcome dose of
variance to an album that's uncompromising in its aggression. "We don't
feel like we fit in any one genre, we just kind of slam things against a wall
and focus more on how it makes us feel than where it fits in,"
Hernandez-Cruz admits. "Our influences range from Cave In and Snapcase
to Orchid and Page 99 so we never try to limit ourselves when it comes to what
we do stylistically."
It hasn't been a painless ride for the members of COLOMBIAN NECKTIE however and correspondingly, much of Twilight Upon Us is rooted in tragedy as evidenced in the ten-minute opus "Kevin's Song." "Kevin was a close friend of ours and former bandmate who actually brought the band together. When he passed away, something came over us and we started writing differently," Hernandez-Cruz reflects. "The tragedy was really heavy because Kevin was just driving to a show in San Francisco and we knew it could have been any of us." Instead of falling into depression, the band used their friend's death as the catalyst to the manifestation of Twilight Upon Us
It hasn't been a painless ride for the members of COLOMBIAN NECKTIE however and correspondingly, much of Twilight Upon Us is rooted in tragedy as evidenced in the ten-minute opus "Kevin's Song." "Kevin was a close friend of ours and former bandmate who actually brought the band together. When he passed away, something came over us and we started writing differently," Hernandez-Cruz reflects. "The tragedy was really heavy because Kevin was just driving to a show in San Francisco and we knew it could have been any of us." Instead of falling into depression, the band used their friend's death as the catalyst to the manifestation of Twilight Upon Us
The Band:
Scott Werren
Ben Daniel
Juan Hernandez
Ben Radz
Alex DuPuis
Review:
Furious
hardcore sludge pummelling your face into unconscious bliss, while screaming
obscenities at you, pretty much sums up Colombian Necktie's newest “Twilight
Upon Us.” For a band from the west coast these guys have a heavy east coast
hardcore feel. What really sets the album apart and breaks up the riff-fest
nicely are the cool oddball sections like the phased out spacey interlude of
the opener “Stockholm '73” or the outro to the second track “Guiding Light.”
The
third track “Play the Game” has an angry, bouncy and marching riff into a bunch
of pretty cool faster variations and is absurdly catchy for such a heavy song.
Strippers everywhere rejoice you finally have more badass heavy music to dance
to and can stop pretending to like hip hop! This is the best track on the album
and the outro has a great solo and some awesome very old school styled lead
guitar (around 3:05 like vintage hot shit soloing from the late 60s).
Although short the 4th track “Alternate Dimensions” reminds me
of some of the band Twilight's work and travelling into some dark spiralling
black metal ambiance. Actually if you had Mike Hill singing this track, it
could be mistaken for the band Tombs. Which is great because Tombs are fucking
awesome.
“Drought”
is undeniably heavy and I'm sure crushes live especially when Colombian Necktie
starts the chugging riff into the open tremolo picked section. The 7th track
“Sleepwalking” begins with a section that reminds me a bit of the band Hull's
interludes on their great album “Beyond the Lightless Sky” and closes with
furious hardcore riff switching. Actually Hull, Tombs, and Colombian Necktie
would make a pretty fucking great tour.
Closing
the album, with by far the longest track “Kevins Song” enters into some
Mastodonian territory from way back when Mastodon was groundbreaking instead of
milquetoast, the quickly cart wheels into a pretty well done yet short ambient
wash. I can't really think of anything offhand to directly compare the
following section to; it's more noise-rock oriented then the rest of the album
and is a cool curveball to throw on the final track. Weirdly moving into a
Western section with some Mexican fried horns you feel like you just walked
onto the set of “Casa de mi Padre” with less reverb. When the guitars come back
in it sounds somewhat similar to Cable's last album “The Last Convict.” Overall
a fitting close to a fantastically crafted album.
Going
deeper down the wormhole as “Twilight Upon Us” progresses, it seems to get more
experimental and displays a lot more variance in its influences. I particularly
like how Colombian Necktie keeps the production raw and visceral, no over
compressed crap here. Check it out below if you like sludgy hardcore with just
a light blackening on the edges and a pinch of noise rock.
Words
by: Chris Tedor
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