Maths Descent Review

To date, London indie label Holy Roar have pulled off their biggest artistic coups with bands that sit a little outside of punk/hardcore convention: the likes of electro-grind trio Cutting Pink With Knives, or Sheffielders Rolo Tomassi, a frightfully young quintet reconfiguring raging hardcore with progressive complexity, horror flick stylings and the terrifying roar of vocalist Eva Spence.

The debut album from Norwich’s Maths, following up a previous split album for Holy Roar with like-minded ragers Throats, does not swing for any wild stylistic curveballs. Rather, Descent mines a seam of dirge-y, embittered screamo hardcore that will be reasonably familiar to anyone with their ear to the ground on such matters.

All the same, Maths distinguish themselves from their more lumpen peers with a grasp of subtle dynamics – not to mention a dramatic, skull-cracking heaviness – that places this record a good head and shoulders above most of its competitors. The ghosts of obscure first-wave screamo outfits like Swing Kids, Orchid and Antioch Arrow loom large in the likes of Branches and Culpa. Elsewhere, Descent brings to mind modern Japanese ensemble Envy, whose epic post-hardcore blends melodic prettiness with huge tidal waves of sound: hear how Wilderness commences with a rolling, slightly sea-sick groove, yearning guitar notes segueing with vocalist Zen’s morose, spoken-word delivery, and builds very gradually, the inevitable throat-shredding climax held at bay by passages of tangled melody and spiralling, dense arrangements.

There are also moments of startling sensitivity within the maelstrom, though. …And Left To Die drifts away beautifully on a Mogwai-style coda, while the climactic Belief in Hope commences with a minute or so of quiet solo piano before riffs rise craggily in salute. The result is a record that remains firmly within its genre, but one that earns its place in the modern canon with grit and resolve.