LIGHTNING SHARKS - LIFE IS A HIDEOUS THING

 


LIGHTNING SHARKS – LIFE IS A HIDEOUS THING 

Bristol-based group Lightning Sharks’ debut EP Life is a Hideous Thing offers toothsome insights into the evolution of the category formatively known as noise rock.  As a novel outgrowth of the phylum, it splices brutal prog into posthuman hardcore. A fitting synthesis of this lurks in the instrumental section of the opening track, 'Below The Snakes'. From 0’48 to 1’26, the listener is bombarded with a melange of Messiaen organ chorales played by classic prog's most polytonality-inclined offerings: Zappa/Magma/Gentle Giant/Van der Graaf Generator. Busy and stimulating = agitating. 



Photo: Laure Noverraz 2021


The hiccup dynamics carry a minor System of a Down blemish/association, and lead vocalist Rixon never strays from the de rigueur bestial growl tonality of black metal. The avant-metal/avant-blues/noise rock nexus isn't devoid of artists capable of nuance within a blackened or bestial aesthetic: Atthila Csihar; Oxbow's Eugene S. Robinson; The Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler-Zavala. For Lightning Sharks' next release, Rixon should consider expanding his vocal style because the group's political lyrics deserve to be more discernible. The name may evoke the Sharknado ecological mutant franchise, but there's much profundity to be found here.


Photo: Ania Shrimpton/Laure Noverraz 2021


‘Below the Snakes’ speaks to our current era of government by plausible deniability. Musically, it evokes Weasel Walter's definition of brutal prog as conveyed within the NY avant-rock scene (The Flying Luttenbachers/Child Abuse/Arab on Radar/Cellular Chaos). We're deep into the push/pull antinomies that coil ever skyward in Noise Rock: the desire for constant disorientation; an estranged attraction towards infernal loops. Think Magma's De Futura, or Morricone's Exorcist II soundtrack. ‘Best Dressed Sex Pest’ opens with glass guitars that evoke Mastodon's prog metal before turning into vokillization over mathbeat Rollins Band. Brutal prog forerunners like Ruins also come to mind. 

Life is a Hideous Thing is mastered by James Plotkin, and there's some of his group Khanate's astringency in Lightning Sharks' metallic template. They're an expansion of a post-hardcore scene exemplified by Yaphet Kotto, Botch and Converge. There's enough variety on display here to suggest this UK outfit have the scope to mature and deepen an already intriguing sound. 

Text: (C) Jon Kromka 2021


Lightning Sharks debut 'Life is a Hideous Thing' is available from 2nd April on all streaming services and to buy from HalfMeltedBrain Records in Digital formats and on Limited Edition Cassette Tapes at https://lightningsharks.bandcamp.com/album/life-is-a-hideous-thing




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