KEN Mode - NULL
Artoffact Records
Winnipeg based band KEN(Kill Everybody Now) Mode continue their grime-filled flirtations with the sludgier side of the noise rock spectrum on 'NULL' - a filth-riddled reflection of inner turmoil and trauma.
Sneering grins. Sinister sounds. Slow-burning, pummeling pace. Churning. Grinding your jaw as the world collapses around you. Maniacal. The mind turns inwards - stumbles over itself, kicks dirt on itself, shits where it lives. Throwing dirt on your own grave, the light at the end of the tunnel has never seemed so near - blindingly bright. You put up your hands to block out the searing glare, but it burns your hands; there's no escape. Nowhere to turn to. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
Choked saxophone(?) on 'A Love Letter', the intro track, is a fitting piece of accompaniment to the hectic and thick fog that is whipped up elsewhere in the track. It sounds as if it's being strangled within an inch of its life - it fits like a glove. 'This, was a mistake' refrain's frontman, Jesse Matthewson. NULL has a nice balance between riffs and rhythms - guitars are somewhat polished, yet remain sludge-y enough to be simultaneously disgusting. Brutal, but still musical enough to see where things come from, and are going to. There's a reason for it. It is chaotic, but within touch.
10-minute 'Lost Grip' opens with a high-pitched ring, snarling bass, and a drum roll to hell. Guitars soar and saunter over the top of said journey downwards. Like an elevator to middle earth, the only way is deep, deep, down. 'We deserve this'.
The only gripe I have with NULL is that it can be a little repetitive at times. This could be down to all the material being completed within a short frame of time, in the same environment/atmosphere, or what have you. It's not necessarily a 'bad' thing to have a consistent sound throughout, but when the material feels like they’re variations of the same song, to a degree, it can become a tad monotonous. A few more spanners in the works wouldn't go astray.
Overall a solid project from KEN Mode.
'I don't believe that you mean well.....'
