Amen to music that still makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up upon first listen. Switzerland’s The Erkonauts has all that and more on their frenetic, ecstatic, and cacophonous mindfuck of a sophomore album entitled I Shall Forgive.
Like a bat out of hell, “Little Mary” comes at you with Ales Campanelli’s bass fury bringing to mind the intensity of Mudvayne’s “Dig” but less abrasive. Unlike those nu-metal once-been’s, though, The Erkonauts continue to beat listeners over the head with one memorable ditty after another on I Shall Forgive.
“Seven Macaw” rawks and rolls then proceeds to bludgeon listeners with this undeniably harmonious chorus accented by soaring guitar riffage by Los Sebos and Bakdosh Puiatti that absolutely envelopes listeners while “Globelbl” bounces along at ludicrous speeds drifting into psych rawk territory at times before the riffin’ brings you back to hard rawkin’ reality.
“The Snick” seemingly explodes out of nowhere with the first minute building the track into a monolith of fretwork and beats until propelling back down the mountain and settling into a sustained groove. And speaking of grooves, “The Groove Of The Sorry” starts with a bass line that’d make Les Claypool envious before turning into easily the most accessible banger on I Shall Forgive as Campanelli trades the scream for a smooth delivery (mostly) and Kevin Choiral relentlessly pummels the skins.
“Cacoit” is just unhinged fun before “Tales Of A Thousand Lives” enters as a sonic journey unto itself. A burgeoning and dense prog rawker, this track pulls out all the tricks that make The Erkonauts stand out within its’ colossal eight-minute run time.
And after something like that we all need some mindless fun, right? Well, closer “Sappy” does not disappoint featuring Mumakil vocalist Tom Mumagrinder wreaking aural havoc as the band completely decimate your senses.
I Shall Forgive is out on November 10th through Indie Recordings. You can get yours by checking out their Pledgemusic campaign here or go digital by clicking here or here. For more on The Erkonauts, head on over here.