A new adventure for Untitled With Drums.
Following their signing with label Season of Mist, Martin Le Borgne (bass/vocals), Lucas Delay (guitar), Nicolas Zalachas (keyboards), and Rémy D. Perrin (drums) – with Etienne Marchal contributing on guitar – unveil their second album, Made Flesh.
The band kicks things off strong with Above My Head, an opening track that’s already quite heavy instrumentally but then eases up to make way for the first hints of vocals, creating an interesting duality poised to shatter and return to its intense saturation before it finally takes over the entire track. The sound cuts off abruptly to make way for Shame and its heady yet dissonant bursts, within which the vocalist lets loose, not hesitating to adopt an even more visceral approach to make the track gripping, while Matter develops much more ethereal and progressive elements. We do, however, find Post-Hardcore’s power in the soaring passages, but once again the track is short, and it’s with Gray that we continue, encountering mysterious sounds along the way before hoping to be swept away by the redeeming distortion where the band lets loose a little more. Space offers us a rather minimalist yet delightful moment of tranquility, one that, of course, won’t last for the entire track, as the band returns to its bursts of raw energy, but the final slowly winds down into Change for You, where the intro also takes its time before really getting the song going. Once it’s fully underway, its rhythm lulls us for a moment, then gives way to the short, abrasive Oblivious, which recaptures a catchy liveliness that will resonate with concertgoers, whether the crowd is in the mood to mosh or simply to enjoy the gentler interlude. Waves of intensity return for Parasitic, along with some more jarring tones that will unsettle us at times, but we’ll find that gentleness again as soon as Been So High begins, unfolding as a sort of ballad with energetic moments to counterbalance the calm. Rock influence fades on the final track, Cry, which leans more toward Post-Rock and Shoegaze elements, carrying us toward the closing moments of this chapter in the quartet’s story with palpable melancholy.
Untitled With Drums brings a breath of fresh air to the scene with Made Flesh, still guided by an intriguing blend of saturated genres. While some tracks may seem fairly mellow at first, just wait until the amps kick in again to truly understand.
80/100
