This isn't the album I expected to get from Siralist, or even the one I really wanted. I shouldn't be that surprised though, seeing as it makes a lot of sense in light of the Anatomy Of feature we did with them, which featured prominent shout-outs to Nine Inch Nails and Code Orange, while also highlighting the band's previous dabbles with industrial on 2021's Future EP. which also included a collaboration with The Armed—though even that was far more abrasive than the more accessible alt-rock take on offer here. Yet, while the greater incorporation of industrial elements into Spiralist's sound may not come as a complete shock, Violent Feathers is still a far cry from the band's other previous output—certainly in style, if not entirely in quality.
For those unaware, Spiralist is the solo project of Portuguese musician Bruno Costa, and began by blending black metal and alt-rock on 2018's Nihilus before transcending into full-blown progressive territory for 2022's outstanding Eternal Recurrence. Here, however, Costa has stripped away almost all of the band's blackened/progressive foundations, leaving an undeniably ambitious yet notably more restrained industrial alt-rock record, save for the occasional mathcore freakout. That's not to say Violent Feathers isn't without its complexities. The record was written while Costa was in therapy, with its tracks representing a series of individual therapy sessions that "bleed into one another to create a cinematic sense of continuity". Nor is it entirely a one-man effort, with the album featuring collaborations from former/live members José Soares and Benjamim Gomes, who bring a layer of percussion and electronic noise to proceedings, along with trumpets, vocals and violins from an assortment of other collaborators.
As such, Violent Feathers neatly fills the gap between Nine Inch Nails' With Teeth (2005) and The Fragile (1999), while also representing an alternative trajectory that The Dillinger Escape Plan might have taken following One of Us is the Killer, or perhaps a more successful realisation of what Code Orange were attempting on The Above (2024). The Dillinger comparison might seem like an odd one, but amid all that band's unhinged extremity, it's important to remember their own dabbles with electronics and industrialised textures in conjunction with their increased melodicism. In particular, the perhaps coyly titled "Disintegration" begins with some very Greg Puciato-sounding, breathy vocals, before exploding into almost Superheaven-esque alt-rock territory for the chorus. There's also a lot here that reminds me of Puciato's last (and best!) solo outing as well (and all of it is certainly a lot more inspired than whatever Better Lovers are doing). There's also the piano ballad "God Unknown", which starts off in a Puciato-esque register again, but by the end reminds me much more of Neon Ballroom-era Silverchair. "Underbelly", meanwhile, is the album's most Code Orange-esque offering, while "Glasseater" all but lifts the electronic pulse of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer".
Despite its more straight-forward approach, Violent Feathers is rather too long, clocking in at fourteen tracks, which—even with a few interludes—makes it around three-times as dense and ten actual minutes longer than either of Spiralist's previous records. It therefore ends up being notably more exhausting than these more expansive, though also much more concise offerings. While this maybe only makes it a more fitting tribute to The Fragile, it's also likely that the album would have been a lot more effective and digestible had it been cut down by about a third or so. Indeed, the rollicking. With Teeth-esque "Baptism by Fire", which served as the album's lead single and which closes out its third chapter, feels like a natural and rewarding place to end the record, even if it stops short of completing its narrative. That what follows is also built around the same vocal refrain that's been used multiple times already, amid a lot of ambient noise also only adds to the sense of diminishing returns, although lusciously melancholic closer "Closure" is well worth sticking around for.
Violent Feathers is an album constructed to "purposefully reward repeated listens". It's clearly a very personal project for Costa, and one which largely succeeds in its cinematic ambitions. Its sonic strengths, however, largely lie in the immediacy of its earlier material, and the more constrained and drawn-out palette with which it paints can make it a difficult record to come back to. Yet while it might not be The Downward Spiral, few if any other albums are, and it's a hell of a lot better than anything Nine Inch Nails have done since at least With Teeth, and I'd argue a lot more successful than the most recent/final Code Orange and Dillinger Escape Plan outings as well. Moreover, while there's a bit of room for refinement upon the band's industrial incarnation, it's likely that whatever Costa and Spiralist come up with next will be entirely different once again, with Violent Feathers having perfectly fulfilled its purpose.