Sometimes, you're pissed off and all you want are riffs that will pummel you into the ground. Sometimes, you're pissed off and you want riffs that will help you pummel something else into the ground. But sometimes, just sometimes, you're pissed off in a sort of directionless, all encompassing way and what you want are some really aggressive riffs that will also challenge you and make you scratch your head. If you find yourself in the latter, rarer mood, then God Alone are probably your best bet, especially on their latest release, The Beep Test. This album sees the Irish group continue their dedication to high-octane, intense music but also sees them refining their genre-flailing into something more condensed and true to target.
Take the opening, eponymous track. The DNA of the Irish math-rock scene is all over this track, especially as you dig further into it (check out that absolutely blistering guitar solo that starts around the three minute mark). There are scintillating, multi-faceted guitar licks and bright, expressive compositions to go along with them. But there's a also a truck-load of punk "fuck off" guitars in the beginning of the track and the vocals are anything but "scintillating". These elements are the core engine at the heart of God Alone's The Beep Test, driving the in-your-face attitude of the album forwards. This vanguard leaves you perfectly open for the more complex stuff, channeling that unique space of "I'm pissed off but at what? I don't know, burn it all down".
Elsewhere, the more progressive, off-kilter elements are baked right into the aggression, like on "Hold Tight". Here, God Alone sound like a brit-rock band crashed into a jazz ensemble, flying off the hook in both vectors: the riffs are big and the vocals are harsh but there are also quieter, more melancholic elements which lead into big catharsis moments where the instruments clash into each other. It's hard to put into words as it straddles so many emotions at the same time before, by the way, merging into "Bluesine", the following track, which sounds like nothing other than an Adebisi Shank track in all of its fucked up, many-noted glory.
Bloody hell, that's just three tracks and this review is already wrapping up! This is indicative of how chock full of ideas, sounds, and styles The Beep Test is filled with. That is one of its biggest strength but can also be to its detriment; it's true that there's more polish and integration here but like previous work by the band, it can often be too much. However, if those words do not concern you and there's a fire burning in your heart that feels like it will set everything ablaze and know no satiation, then The Beep Test burns with that same light. If you are looking for an album that will go toe to toe with you, that refuses to settle for one thing and insists on doing all the things, and if you want that album to be played by proficient and prolific music nerds - then look no further.