The Journey is Over Now by Comity (2011)

Kind of Like: Ken Mode, Converge, Starkweather
Genres: Experimental, Mathcore, Chaotic Hardcore, Metal, Sludge
Preview: Bandcamp
Buy: Throatruiner

"The Journey Is Over Now", their first full-length in five years, shows a band more ruthless and musically ambitious than ever before. Four tracks delivering 52 minutes of an oppressive but finely worked chaos : a maze of winding riffs and unique melodies. Recorded and mixed between Laval and Paris by sound sorcerers Amaury Sauvé & Sylvain Biguet, mastered by Carl Saff, this fine-cut monolith of darkness shows a band in constant soul-searching and who has been able to push their art in ways they never would have dreamed possible. Exhausting in their ability to bring fluidity and atmosphere to their extremely dense compositions, "The Journey Is Over Now" reminds that COMITY is, more now than ever before, a band impossible to pigeon hole. This is extreme rock'n roll, and nothing else."
-Bandcamp

The hardest thing I have been listening to lately is screamo, which is certainly violent and chaotic, but not necessarily hard.  So finding this, was a breath of fresh air of sorts.

These guys are from France, and they rip it like they are from New York.  The quality is great, and it is just the kind of mathcore I love.  The layout of the album is unique; it is split into four parts ranging from 8 minutes to...22 minutes.  Something you are more likely to see out of a post-rock band, not a mathcore band that can easily cut down songs into specific parts.  That is probably the only problem with this album, and it isn't something I neccesarily have a problem with.  I just have a feeling this layout could only hurt the accessibility of this music instead of helping it.  I'm sure this band wasn't expecting to get radio plays, but there are small stations out there that play music like this that may be less willing to seeing that the shortest song is 8 minutes.  A lot of people don't like to be force-fed big hunks of music you know? I really don't mind it, the music  makes up for the odd layout.  These guys are really talented, and even though the song length may seem intimidating, start the album up and see if you stop it.

On a side note, this is another release by Throatruiner Records; a small time label from France that is run by one guy.  I am seeing more and more of their releases come my way, and I continue to like what I hear.

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