Review Summary: I can taste the venom
After a little over five years since the last Frontierer full-length release, it would stand to reason we were due for a juggernaut of an album from the mathcore maniacs. That previous album, Oxidized, skyrocketed their popularity and visibility in the genre due to its mix of heaviness and experimentation that has seldom been replicated by other bands.
Frontierer’s trademark overwhelming flood of caustic riffs and noise are on the menu as always, bubbling like a witch's cauldron. The opening salvo of songs in itself is a testament to how extreme Ultraviolet Parasite is. The title track perfectly demonstrates the frenzied barrage and catchy, massive grooves you can expect. Similarly, ‘Wool Glasses’ breaks your brain and boasts the most brutal breakdown on the album. ‘Picturesque’ takes the crown here, implementing so many ruthless, dizzying tempo shifts while vocalist Chad Kapper keeps pace and screams:
Tonight the paint will run
All down the walls like art as canvas blood
Songwriter Pedram Valiani’s sonic landscapes with Kapper’s unyielding vocals and virulent lyrics paint a frightening hellscape that you can feel from bell to bell.
That is not the end of the barnburners though. Comparatively simpler ‘Precursor Sequel’ squeals and chugs the momentum forward relentlessly while ‘Digesting the Canal Burial’ and ‘Complacency Gown’ have the most satisfying and clearly defined riffs and rhythms to follow. Out of all the tracks, the latter two have the most ‘classic’ Frontierer sound, meaning Valiani’s bodacious, jackhammer-toned havoc while Kapper zeroes in and bulldozes you with an earworm. Perhaps my favorite performance of Kapper’s is found on ‘Iodine Bath’. You can hear the most range from Kapper on this song with his normal scream, piercing highs, and an eerie spoken word part. It features a central riff that sounds like killer space bees stinging you to death, which combined with Kapper’s swagger make it one of the best tracks on the album.
So any worries about Ultraviolet Parasite not bringing the heavy can be put away, but the question remains, what new or novel things are brought into the fold?
Glitchy electronic drum and bass interlude ‘Emerging Claustrophobic’ gives you time to lower your heart rate early on in the album and further enforces the sci-fi atmosphere pervading the record. ‘Ions & Oxygen Rockets’ reels back the mathy, spastic structure in favor of a more straightforward punk/hardcore banger executed excellently. Sludgey crusher ‘Retrograde F’ mostly follows the standard playbook but also implements a beautiful, surreal melodic passage that really makes the song stand out.
The biggest surprise comes at the very end with closer ‘Terraforming Myself’. Valiani lends his vocals front and center for the first time in an epic, emotional conclusion to the album. By far the most conventionally melodic Frontierer song to date and proof they can do it well.
Ultraviolet Parasite is more than a worthy addition to the prolific Frontierer discography. If there were a few more servings of variety and experimentation integrated in the album, it would legitimately be a landmark record for the genre. The record’s cornerstone chaos mixed with the tasteful detours add up to a phenomenal experience, but it still feels like there are even higher levels to be reached.
