Escuela Grind – Dreams on Algorithms
Release Date: 18th October 2024
Label: MNRK Heavy
Bandcamp
Genre: Grindcore, Hardcore, Death Metal.
FFO: Zulu, Speed, Cloud Rat, Full of Hell.
Review By: Jeff Finch
How the members of Escuela Grind find the time to sleep is something that needs to be studied; one of the top ten busiest metal bands, in terms of number of shows and miles traveled, they released a dynamite EP in January and found it in their ludicrously full schedule to record a full length LP that not once lets on that they’re tired. Wherever they get the energy from, it’s a powerful place, because Dreams on Algorithms is a monstrous release from a band that’s only getting bigger and more aggressive.
Seeing the group live and meeting them, and having a chat, made my fandom even stronger, their most recent LP Memory Theater a constant staple in the music rotation. And it also displayed just how ferocious the group is in a live setting, as chaotic in person as they sound on record. And how do they sound on this record?
Savage.
Over the course of a half hour spread over ten tracks, markedly longer than their last one, Escuela Grind takes on social media anxiety and stalking (Always Watching You), the concept of religion and what happens (chaos) when humans come together (Concept of God), and staring death in the face while experiencing a plane ride you think is going to kill you (Turbulence). Lyrically heavy, musically cathartic, the album sees the band play with numerous tempo changes and transitional melodies that seem to recharge them as they occur, the wrath with which they play absolutely palpable. From the unrelenting growls of vocalist Katerina to the buzzsaw guitars of Krissy and the intense blasts from Jesse, the group almost never relents. The riffs are mammoth; from triplet chugs to haunting doom to breakdowns, Kris creates more power and crushing noise with just one guitar than bands with two or even three guitarists. It’s an instrument of destruction being used to bludgeon everyone in its path by way of a thick, chunky tone that, no matter the pace, always feels like it’s going to rip a hole in the space time continuum. Katerina unleashes violent savagery in her vocals, pure angst, venom, and vitriol spewed on every track; even some melodic cleans on the final track aren’t able to undo the destructive effects of the previous 9 songs. They’re a welcome surprise, especially given the acerbic performance up to now, but once Katerina drops low again, it’s like they never even happened. And who could forget the heartbeat of the rhythm section: as with the live setting, Jesse Fuentes mercilessly pummels his kit with reckless abandon; blast beats, precision fills, and blistering double bass, the band shifts as Jesse shifts. Stopping on a dime and switching tempos and time signatures, Kris following suit, the ferocity of the percussion can’t be overstated here. Fuentes and his kit keeps the clock ticking, the head banging, the songs flowing, the time modulations mind-bending when taken in tandem with a chainsaw guitar and devilish vocals, all working together to evoke painfully dark images that won’t soon fade for the listener.
Mix this all together, and this is what the algorithm spits out. For roughly one half hour, this band has listeners in their clutches. Despite being a hair slower paced than Memory Theater, and an extra eight minutes longer, Escuela Grind simply decided that the best course of action was to attack these 30 minutes with the same ferocity and vigor as those other 22 minutes. The group doesn’t know how to slow down in the real world, so why would we expect any difference in an album? We wouldn’t, and you shouldn’t.
(4.5 / 5)
