Review Summary: Unhinged.
Most people don't realize just how big Los Angeles is. Its urban sprawl spreads over five county lines from the cool shores of the pacific, over one hundred miles inland into the sun scorched desert. The latter has affectionately been dubbed the Inland Empire, which is somewhat fitting for its austere rows of track housing and dust brown backdrops. Apathean are the sonic embodiment of this real estate limbo; grinding and lumbering across a vast soundscape of harsh, unforgiving noise. Combining fits of late 90's mathcore rage with towering hulks of droney sludge, their newest release
Eve, is a frightening exercise in unbridled intensity. Further complimenting their monolithic down-tempo excursions, many times throughout the record Apathean indulge their musical chops with twisted wisps of warped and winding jazz scales and off tempo cleans. It is unhinged, it is ugly, and god dammit it is downright captivating.
Eve nimbly traverses this unbridled and unnerving musical landscape, constantly heightening the anticipation in each twist and turn until it reaches the eerily calm interlude of “Annabell”. Its foreboding music box melody and haunting vocals are down right unsettling. It soon fades into the album's final track and opus “Jezebel”. A visceral cacophony of
No Heroes-esque brutality and massive, doom flavored riffs, it seethes with contempt as it bludgeons its way through five gnarled minutes.
What Apathean have created here on
Eve is nothing short of astounding for the young band. They combine a myriad of influences from across the heavy music spectrum into a violent fury that is truly its own. Not only that, but
Eve single-handedly places Apathean near the top of the crowded and competitive hardcore scene of Southern California's inland expanse.
