Style: Post-Metal/Grindcore/Jazz/Avant (Instrumental)
Review by: Chris
Country: Switzerland
Release date: October 23, 2020
The term genre defying tends to be a loaded term. Too often people take it as a notice that an album or band is revolutionary or amazing instead of just a note that bucketing doesn’t work for the artist in question. I’m not sure I find Convulsif revolutionary or amazing, but I will call them genre-defying because I really can’t bucket this album. Extinct is marketed as “ever self-inventing gloomy rock in the abyss between subgenres: noise, metal, jazz and grindcore”. I’d call this accurate as the album definitely dances between these referenced areas while also including some post stylings as well along the way. SO maybe now the wack style list has at least a little more explanation now.
Extinct opens on “Buried between one” with extremely fuzzed bass laying down an ominous, doomy line while over time the electronics, guitars and other instruments provide shrieks, embellishments, and feedback on top. The drums use a sparse and loose growing tom and snare groove to back up the doom feel from the bass. As the song progresses the doom feel is eventually phased out for a grindcore-esque wall of noise and frantic energy. This kind of drawn out build is tantamount to how this album works, with 3 of the songs being above 7 minute affairs of building and embellishing on an initial motif.
The builds and motifs themselves differ for each of the long-form songs. Where as “Buried Between one” is a doomy, dirty build, “Five days of open bones” is much more post metal and jazz in nature. Much more forward pushing drums and a true bass line are coupled with legato clarinet lines and electronic elements to provide a much calmer, laid back build that the previous song. That said, it does end up in a similar place with a gigantic wall of feedback and what I assume is also clarinet screeching. The very end of “Five days” provides a first real riff (kinda) section with very low clarinet voicing, which brings along a dark jazz kind of mood.
I found myself enjoying the next two tracks the most for their brevity and simplicity in development. I would say while I like and appreciate the building nature a lot of these pretty improvisational bands do (Convulsif states a lot in their bios about being mostly improvisational live and changing every show), I do think this has the normal failing of some of these instrumental albums. Live I think this would be great to watch and experience, much like Russian Circles and their contemporaries are. On a recording some of these builds and compositions get a bit trying and long-winded without the benefit of watching the actual performance. For those really into drawn out instrumental bands this will be great. For those who prefer their instrumental albums melodic and busier, this may not be totally in the wheelhouse.
Definitely well written and performed, but not entirely attention grabbing for me personally. I will say the highs on the album are great. and when they lean into the grindcore aesthetic I’m really into it. I just wish most builds didn’t take the entirety of the songs to get to similar points. In a future release I would love to see maybe more ebb and flow of builds and more of a rollercoaster feel than a continuous climb on each track which I felt this turned into at some point.
Recommended tracks: Buried between one, Surround the arms of revolution, Feed my spirit side by side
Recommended for fans of: Russian Circles, Behold… The Arctopus
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook
Label: Hummus Records – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook
Extinct is:
– Jamasp Jhabvala (violin, electronics)
– Christian Muller (clarinet, electronics)
– Maxime Hänsenberger (drums)
– Loïc Grobéty (bass)
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