Review Summary: Prepare your ear drums for the pummeling experience that is IDYLLS.
After purchasing this album blindly, my iTunes listed the band's name and album title in all-caps. Thinking there was an error with the programming, I looked up IDYLLS online only to realize it was completely accurate. The massive sounds they create make the spelling a warning for anyone weary about taking the challenge of listening to them. It is a label, stating that hell is headed your way and the perspective listener better prepare for it.
There are many influences on "PRAYER FOR TERRENE" but the major ones would have to be hardcore punk and grindcore. Many of the guitar lines are technically sound, but still have a sense of insanity that few artists can replicate. LIED TO kicks off the album with it's longest and most brutal effort. This track mixes the clean and screaming vocals the best overall, which creates a great atmosphere with speedy guitars. Chaos could be defined by simply listening to this track.
The next four songs range from just over one minute to shorter than three. FAGGED OUT ON THE BEACH is a quick sprint to the finish, being filled with a nasty bass line and guitars that riff all the way through. SOW CONTROL is also quite short, but the blood curdling screams and noisy guitars create the portrait of a nightmare. ANIMAL TEST has a heavy punk influence, but quickly builds up into a huge wall of sound that is punctuated by powerful screams of agony. DENIGRATING IN THE TANKS clocks in under three minutes, but it is one of the longer songs on the album. The sliding guitars are constantly crushing through the track, and the heavy bass is brooding in the background. To slow things down, the breakdown really chugs into motion beautifully.
The second half of "PRAYER FOR TERRENE" is where the sound gets a bit more interesting. PCP CRAZY is a more straight-laced punk track, being driven by a sludgy bass line and cleaner vocals. It almost sounds like a B-side that got cut from The Dillinger Escape Plan's "Ire Works" due to being too heavy. This is the best track on the album for the drastic tone change and infectious personality. The next two tracks, PAY WITH YOUTH and CONCORD PRISON, get their point across well. They are very heavy songs with powerful bass lines, building guitars, and wretched vocals that feel pained. CRASHING BOAR is the product of those build-ups, being the angriest song on the album. The speedy guitar riffs are always hiding behind the commanding vocals in the track, while also leaving room for a hardcore breakdown that is led by the bass and drums. TERRAFORM rounds off the package cleanly with a sludgy metal tone that feels like a left hook to the jaw. The vocals are at their best on the closing track, and there is a beautiful breakdown to end the jarring ride.
"PRAYER FOR TERRENE" is bound to become one of the heaviest albums of 2014. The album has beautiful technical sound but noisy guitar riffs, wretched vocal delivery, and murky bass lines make for an uncomfortable experience. The ride can be a bit too brutal for most, but for listeners who love a heavy grindcore experience, this album is near perfection.
