Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 09/02/2018
Label: Self Sabotage Records
01. Command + Comply
The Review:
Right from
the opening seconds of Marriage + Cancer’s debut LP it seems that the
band are no strangers to the Jesus Lizard’s back catalogue. While the Portland
“Command And Comply” begins with the bands
rock-solid rhythm section laying down the kind of insistent rumble that invites
carnage to follow. Jagged shards of searing guitar soon join the fray along
with pleasantly deranged vocals riddled with an off-kilter queasiness. Marriage +
Cancer’s sound is classic noise rock infused with the breathless
post-hardcore of Drive Like Jehu but delivered in a sludgy, nasty style all
of their own. “Headache” finds the
band at their heaviest and most pummelling while “Gound” is like a twisted fusion of Hot Snakes and Sonic Youth.
The
highlight of the album comes when Marriage + Cancer move away from driving punk
rock territory and explore slower tempos. “God
Is Tan” begins as a sickly, drunken lurch that steadily builds in spite and
intensity into a furious cacophony of serrated guitar squall. The second half
of album closer “View from a Cross”
also benefits from a similar shift in volume and dynamics when it drops down to
taut, spacious chords before launching into a raging climax. These passages of
brooding menace heighten the impact of the glorious mayhem that surrounds them
and it would be interesting to see the band develop this aspect of their sound
on future releases.
Marriage + Cancer’s self-titled debut
captures the raw power of a band in its formative stages, full of obnoxious
noise and simmering potential.
“Marriage + Cancer” is available here
Jagged shards of searing guitar coupled with
pleasantly deranged vocals, makes for an album full of obnoxious noise and
simmering potential.
“Marriage
+ Cancer” DD//LP
track listing:
02. God is Tan
03. Honor, On Our Knees
04. Headache
05. Six Feet + a Box
06. Flora + Fauna
07. Gound
08. Thirteen Stairs
09. View From a Cross
