Review Summary: Kevin Spacey
One of the more exciting bands to have come out of Florida in the past few years is the wildly chaotic Recreant, and no, they don't play OSDM. Releasing a self-titled album not too long ago I was blown away upon first impact by their unique juxtaposition of genres and powerful song dynamics. Spearheaded by violinist/vocalist Babe Friesen and rounded out by guitarist Cheddar Kleinheinz, bassist Jesse Beavers and drummer Tristan Dennings, Recreant carve deep into the musical terrain to create a unique sound for themselves. Channeling such talented acts like Circle Takes The Square and So Hideous, formerly So Hideous...My Love, Recreant play a violent form of screamo music that incorporates some of the more serene elements of post-rock with the more intense moments of hardcore, crust punk and metal. Additionally, a violin is prominently featured in the recording, which to some might seem like a gimmick but in reality it goes quite well with Recreant's music.
Featuring eight tracks and coming in well under the thirty minute mark, Recreant isn't a lengthy release by any stretch of the imagination. Many of the songs hover around the two minute in fact. However, despite it's miniscule length not a single moment is wasted in creating compelling music. All eight tracks are emotionally charged to the point of over-exhaustion on the musician's part, always weaving through various emotions and ideals. Beauty and ugliness, melody and aggression, calm and intensity, through it all Recreant maintain their composure and create powerful, emotive music without rambling mindlessly. The band's aggressive nature is tempered by their somber melodicism, creating a dynamic yet claustrophobic sound that I feel like was their intent. You can feel their frustration by zoning into their sound and visualize how trapped you, your self feel about today's current climate.
Led by the soaring violin and passionate vocals of Babe, the intricate guitar work of Cheddar, the underlying bass work of Jesse and the battering percussion by Tristan, Recreant pull no punches and you know it when you're greeted with the opening track "Rick Scott Is An Evil Robot". Starting off in a nontraditional way with slow, melodic guitar and violin the track soon morphs into a raging beast that proceeds to bull-rush it's way through the rest of the album in a similar fashion. By the song-titles you can deduct that there is a strong political current to the music which can be instantly felt through the music's frustratingly emotional nature.
Although featuring only eight tracks and less than a half hour of play Recreant isn't hampered by it's limited constraints. For the whole recording Recreant deliver deeply engaging, emotional music that will appeal to any fan of aggressive music whether it be black metal or screamo. I can't say enough good things about this band, nor can I actually find any bad things about them to criticize or nitpick in this review. Recreant is a band I will keep an eye out for in the future because for a young blood to the scene this is a uncommonly good release. And because of my Florida roots I pray to Odin I catch these guys and gal live soon.
