Review Summary: Fearless, fun, and deadly music that bridges the gap between hardcore and post-hardcore.
If I were made XBXRX’s manager, I would first tell these post-hardcore warriors to change their name. And then I would tell them to keep up the good work. With 18 songs and under 26 minutes of material, their 2005 debut Sixth in Sixes starts with a bang and just keeps shooting, pausing only once or twice to reload.
The sound here is harsh and unapologetically so. The near-shrieking vocals cut through as if shouted through a megaphone, and the guitar tone is sharp and piercing, not saturated. Appreciably, they make use of clicks, harmonics, and the most dissonant progressions and chords known to man. Tracks like “Deceiver’s Voice” beat them into our head and resolve not to consonance but to pure oblivion. Predictably, the bass and drums take a supporting role, grounding the trebly tones of the guitar and vocals, as on “Deaf Ears, Silent Voice”. As far as lyrics go, none are intelligible, which is a little frustrating but not unexpected.
For such a raw album, there is a sense of polish and attention to detail that’s both surprising and welcome, and more variety than one might expect after the first few songs. “Pigs Wear Blue”, for instance, sprinkles in a verse that sounds reminiscent of more familiar 80s hardcore. “Hope Until We Can’t” fits the mold described here, but still manages to be catchy. And they spit us out with “In Memory of Our Lives”, by far the most anthemic song here, save for the volcanic 60 seconds at the end.
As I more than hinted at above, ‘abrasive’ doesn’t begin to describe this album. Seriously, it’s like Black Flag started listening to Ceremony; it’s positively lethal, in the best possible way.
