Style: Avant-Garde Metal, Synthwave, Prog Metal, Mathcore (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Igorrr, Car Bomb?
Review by: Sam
Country: US-WA
Release date: 7 July, 2023
This year ??? has been my favorite style of prog to review. First was Pleasures who played some sort of combination of prog rock, psych, and what I think is hyperpop, then was Psilocybe who – while still being within the bounds of prog metal – threw in every semi-relevant genre they could think of at random moments. Now we have Nuclear Dudes, a solo project by the Seattle-based Jon Weisnewski I chose to review solely because I thought the name was funny. This time, we’re on the extreme metal side of ???. Let’s hope it’s any good.
So well, this ??? seems to be comprised of synthwave, prog metal, and whatever extreme metal genre Mr. Weisnewsky deems appropriate–often mathcore (says Andy). Trying to neatly categorize it any further is not recommended, so I won’t be doing that. Either way, I expected this… thing to be awful, but it’s actually quite skillfully put together. This man can put a lot of music into a very short time span. For example, the title track opener packs three very different movements into a mere two minutes, showcasing insanity, ambience, and melody while somehow maintaining a clear song direction. It naturally flows from one thing into the next even if they don’t align much at face value. It’s haphazard, but also it works… maybe, probably, ???. At the very least, the song is an indication of what’s to come.
Pacing-wise this is as haphazard as it is musically. Five minutes into the album, three full-fledged songs with mostly insanity have flown by, but then they radically change the pacing by way of the seven minute post-metal song “Obsolete Food” which patiently builds up ambience through thick, doomy riffs and industrial effects. And the album continues like this. The shorter tracks are batshit insane, and the longer tracks routinely take on a style of post-metal. Every song is full of twists, crushing riffs, intelligible harsh vocals, random sections of extended ambience, and more. The playing is on point in all of it, a feat which I find pretty impressive considering this is a solo project.
Whether this type of writing appeals to you is a very personal thing. For me, I think it’s a little bit much, and a little too random at times. It mixes up loud and soft well enough to not get ear fatigue, but the transitions can truly feel like a slot machine at times. “Poorly Made Pots” is 2 and a half minutes of pure insanity and plot twists, and then “Many Knives” spends more than triple its length building atmosphere without a satisfying climax. It might have worked in a different context, but the transition now is too abrupt. “Lasers in the Jungle” goes the other way around, starting ambient before exploding into chaos. It’s as if I’m listening on shuffle instead of an album. It seems like Mr. Weisenewski sometimes can’t decide if he wants it to be ambient or chaos, but it’s also likely I’m not the intended audience for this. If you enjoy the genre of ??? metal and/or have a propensity for chaos, this album will give you great pleasure. Now excuse me as I go back to my comfort zone and write another Vanden Plas review.
Recommended tracks: Boss Blades, Obsolete Food, Dads Eat Heels
You may also like: Kucoshka, Sandrider, Mad Capsule Markets
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram | RYM page
Label: Independent
Nuclear Dudes is:
– Jon Weisnewski (everything)
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