In a bat-shit crazy world, where those things we once thought were irksome, but somehow necessary, now make zero sense at all, thank god there is extreme sludge. Even better, there are still extreme sludge bands who can make a name for themselves and voluntarily shun some of the trappings of our modern ways.
Enter Nottingham’s Moloch – a band who have a sizeable reputation and an ability to simply walk their own, un-signposted pathway. ‘Bend. Break. Kneel. Crawl.’ is their third full-length release, albeit amongst a sea of splits and the odd EP, and has purposefully not been funnelled down the sewage-ridden tunnels of digital streaming – as the band choose to release it via Bandcamp, self-released vinyl, tape via Dry Cough and CD via SuperFi.
There is an upcoming vinyl release in the US planned too which, given the wondrous anti-norm approach of this band, makes them sound vaguely commercially minded. They are, most certainly, not.
The music of Moloch speaks for itself. On the same day as the even bleaker UK gloom-seekers Cattle Hammer release their debut full length, it would seem that there is something in the pond water for the finest in dissonant nastiness. ‘Bend. Break. Kneel. Crawl.’ envelops a Thou meets Wren cloud of sulphurous stink, as it meanders from the melodic, pulsating hammering of ‘In Chrysalis’, through the avant-garde, The Body-esque noise metal of ‘Bleeding Through The Interrogation’ and into the harrowing wretchedness of ‘Another Family Slaughters Itself In The Countryside’.
There is something truly wonderful about actively seeking out music – both practically and emotionally – and that’s exactly what Moloch have achieved here and, might I add, to perfection. This is as heavy, gruesome and detrimental as the creative strands of music can twist themselves into, and so, with ‘Bend. Break. Kneel. Crawl.’ hidden somewhere in this bat-shit crazy world that I alluded to, it just makes things a marginally better place….for all of us – whether they know it or not.
Best Paired with: a Claw Hammer, insect bites and collection of old photographs.
Review by Jaff.
moloch – Bend. Break. Kneel. Crawl. is out now on cassette, CD and vinyl via Bandcamp.
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