Many bands would like to claim to be wild. There’s something inherently attractive about savageness, especially in metal. But very few bands actually feel unleashed, regardless of the states

5 years ago

Many bands would like to claim to be wild. There’s something inherently attractive about savageness, especially in metal. But very few bands actually feel unleashed, regardless of the states of mind that might have possessed the members as they were writing/recording the music. Wildness is more than just being experimental and bucking composition norms. It’s about a certain feeling, about a kind of unrestrained energy that permeates your music. Freighter are wild. Their latest release, the first in over ten years, is a nonstop assault of break-necking riffs, screams, and staccato madness, all possessed with a kind of feral momentum that’s hard to resist. Head on below the jump for your first taste and I’ll see you after.

Yeah, that just happened. On The Den, these Bay Area natives channel the intense thrash their geography is known for and blend it with math-core that’s more reminiscent of Psykup than The Dillinger Escape Plan, though the latter’s influence is definitely present. The fragmented piano, the irresistible groove, the frantic vocals, and even more frantic guitars, all conspire to make “Future Duke” a ride and a half. Like the rest of the album, it manages to be heavy without being muddled and unexpected without being just random; there’s always a core of sensibility and planning to it, even as it splutters all over the place in fits and starts. That’s probably to do with the core of thrash metal which keeps the machine pulsing, beating at the heart of it with its unstoppable riffs.

Exploring the rest of the album will yield the same result but with disparate approaches. The Den doesn’t recycle too many moves, instead relying on a consistent theme and “mood” to keep it together. Surprisingly, it does stay together, a fact which makes it one of the more impressive “chaotic” math-core albums I’ve heard in a while. Make sure to support the band by clicking through to their Bandcamp page above and grabbing this shape-shifting monster. You won’t regret it.

Eden Kupermintz

Published 5 years ago