Oxx – The Primordial Blues
Release Date: 18th August 2023
Label: Nefarious Industries
Bandcamp
Genre: Avant/Technical Metallic Hardcore.
FFO: Converge, Botch, Dillinger Escape Plan.
Review By: Jeff Finch
It’s hard to stick out in the world of metalcore / metallic hardcore nowadays, but those that do, really stick out. Whether it’s the consistency of every release (August Burns Red), the ability to somehow get heavier and more aggressive with every note (Knocked Loose) or the uncanny talent to turn every album and performance into an almost literal theater (Ice Nine Kills), being able to stick out isn’t terribly easy anymore. So, when you throw around words like ‘avant-garde’ and ‘technical’ when referring to metalcore / metallic hardcore, it’s hard not to perk up a little.
That brings us to Oxx; for this listener, a heretofore unheard of band that’s been labeled with those two terms that raise the eyebrows, and, after listening to the album, it’s easy to see why. What this Danish group brings to the table, in addition to belligerent, headbangingly heavy and sludgy riffs, is an amalgamation of off kilter, time signature stomping, tempo shifting chaos that is still somehow easy to digest. Lead vocalist and guitarist Alex Bossen brings a fairly standard growl to the table, rarely veering from a low rumble, keeping his vocals very ‘same-y’ throughout, while simultaneously throwing monster riffs and technical licks into the mix, a dizzying display of double duty as he renders the listener off balance, trying to decipher where the music is going as its already taking you down a different path altogether.
The rhythm section is simply uncanny; quite obviously borrowing from jazz, the drum fills contained in these 9 tracks are dizzying, a spectacle for the ears, keeping the listener laser focused to the unapologetic chaos. Tracks are almost cacophonous in nature, as the unrelenting pace and the stop/start transitions run circles around the listener’s head. While the bass isn’t going to wow you, ala Les Claypool, what it does is keep everyone in check, rumbling at a steady pace, even getting time to shine towards the tail end of the album. It may lack the overt, in your face technicality brought about by the drums and guitar, but what it lacks there it makes up for in sheer pummeling power.
And in keeping with the theme of instruments, the use of the string section is marvelously done, rendering tracks melancholic and introspective, the music attempting to soothe while the main band attempts to destroy, as on our final, and the title, track The Primordial Blues. The same can be said about the use of piano, the opening track The Coast starting us off with a beautiful, if simple, melody that segues into a maelstrom of jazz inspired metal, always present in the background, as the straight forward, syncopated riffs hit us with time signature shift after time signature shift.
What’s great about this album, the insanity from the word ‘go’ and the impressively consistent nature of cacophony, is also what one could say is its downfall. Every track does, in a way, resemble others, given the constant shifts in tempo, the vertiginous array of notes seemingly spliced together to give the illusion of magic generating the music, and the unfortunately one dimensional vocals. Basically, the craziness brought to the table borders on exhausting at points, even as it impresses, at the expense of the vocals which, though a bit uninspired, are buried in the mix, almost as if the vocalist was at the other end of the room when they hit record.
Those critiques may sound a bit harsh and also a bit nitpicky and, honestly, they probably are. Musically, this record positively destroys, really driving home the ‘avant-garde’ label, and, were the vocals a bit louder and clearer, there wouldn’t be much to nitpick. Even so, despite these critiques, that’s no reason to not listen to this record. What Oxx has done here is push the boundaries of what can be considered metalcore / metallic hardcore, as they don’t rest on the typical metalcore laurels of chugging riffs, bleghs, and soaring choruses. No, what they do is boggle the mind, the ears, the soul, with jazz inspired musicality that impresses even as it gets redundant.
(3.5 / 5)
