Work. Sleep. Rinse. Repeat. The humdrum of modern life can be a burdensome weight that feels unbearable at times. Admittedly, I have recently been struggling with the existential malaise of seemingly endless repetition of routines in both my personal and professional lives. Even the habits that I normally enjoy or that keep me healthy have felt tedious. That’s why it feels serendipitous that Sisyphean Life, the newest collection of grindcore from long-running Dutch quartet Suffering Quota, came up for review. What better way to marinate in those feelings of listlessness than by reviewing an album themed around that very topic?
The aptly titled Sisyphean Life explores the “depression and boredom of modern daily life” and its “endless cycles and neverending days” that occur while we “chase fleeting moments of bliss forevermore.” Prevalent throughout the album is a sinking sensation of existential oppression that is carried by the themes and performances. What stands out the most in this respect is Gerald Timmermans’ pained and claustrophobic vocals, which often sound as if he is shrieking for help while being buried alive under the weight of life’s mundane routines and quotidian tasks.
Other moments demonstrate a similar notion. The closing 7/8 riff in “Overpowering Weight” is performed in dramatically decreasing tempos, conjuring the image of someone dragging ever-increasing amounts of weight until they are unable to move with any more forward momentum. According to the band, this was an intentional link the band wanted to make between the music and lyrics. Similarly, the trudging, repetitive riff that makes up half of “Slope” elicits images of suit-wearing office workers with dead eyes plodding their way toward grey office buildings. Other noteworthy parts, such as the brief glimpses of mournful melodicism that cut through the aggression on “Dust” and “Strain Once More” end much too soon, but they are moments that shine a light through the oppression.
Despite the consistent quality of the Dutch quartet’s creative (but sporadic) output over their 15-year career, suffering Quota have always existed on the periphery of a genre that has itself always been on the periphery. In many ways, that doggedness is a rejection of the resigned monotony represented by the myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphean Life may be primarily concerned with that resigned monotony, but Suffering Quota's resilience and the quality of their output repudiates it.