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I
don’t know
why I am so close minded. I keep on having this stupid idea that
bands from Central Europe are incapable of dishing out great
music. I mean death metal, almost any moron can make, so it
doesn’t matter where you are from. Most of it is so convoluted
its validity can only be objectively measured by the fan anyway.
And much of the same goes to all sub genres of metal. Noise rock
though is a different matter, it either takes brain or the
absolute lack of ‘em. But here you have two ramifications
that can be clearly split. There is noise of the kind that not
only sonically derives from the word noise; where the seemingly
hectic strumming, bashing and occasional playing of instruments
forms masses of music, or actually noise to form slices of
something and altogether conform an album. And then there is
noise rock; of the kind where the structure is there (and
therefore granting the inclusion of the word ‘rock’), where the
noise is audible at a distance or through the slicing and dicing
of the songs. Not necessarily void of melody, but usually filled
with angularity, jagged edges and unnerving vocals with
enervating results.
Croatia’s
COG adhere to the latter brand of noise rock, and damn my soul
if their debut Course Over Ground doesn’t sound like the
product of smart minds. It’s got that cutting edge, you know?
Especially in the guitars, which are served in about two dozen
manners; flat, horizontal and vertical with a raw sound that
dismisses chunk and concentrates in offering heaviness through
clank. And how about the raw screams and dead pan vocals of the
vocalist who through his unprocessed take on noise adds another
layer of synthetic material to this pretty organic machine.
Judging COG solely by their sound it is obvious these are no
novices, no amateurs dipping their toes in what’s for them still
uncharted waters.
I could not
find much information related to their musical background, but
COG sounds serious as a heart attack. Plus, taking into account
that the band has been together since 1997 and that only ten
years later have they ventured into releasing an album (after
three demos), they are certainly not focusing on unleashing
subpar material. Definitely up to par with the best stuff of
Jesus Lizard or Fugazi. Like most worthy music, takes time to
sink in, but once it does, hold your buttocks for dear life.
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