‘Generation L’ swings like anvils suspended on chains one moment, drops them onto your facebone the next. No easy ride up the incline on this rollercoaster, just a yank up and plummet down over and over again of which SWARM OF THE LOTUS and FISTULA would be proud.
EYES has always had a pocketful of noise rock influence, and it jiggers and jerks in ‘IT’S HAPPENING’, while ‘Congratulations!’ is a speedster anthem ala ZEKE, but with grooves like XYSMA’s post-grind output or KRUGER. Sure, second paragraph and already we’ve mentioned five bands EYES brings to mind, but this should speak more to the band’s ability to morph with a speed and dexterity that’d leave most in the dust, gasping and bruised.
Speaking of bruised, ‘dull BOY’ is unpremeditated, veering wildly between a hardcore breakdown riff that swings like a cue ball in a sock, staccato beats ‘n’ riffs like a jammed typewriter, the five-piece reveling in sonic orgiastic glee, and we’re the better for it. Lumbering forth amid a sea of skronk and floor-clearing rhythmic assault, ‘Tearjerker’ is QUICKSAND, but meaner, spite-spewing and targeted, and it’s at this point I’ve decided I need to witness Simon Djurhuus behind the kit, if for no other reason than to see his facial expressions wringing every ounce of impact out of his drums ala John Stanier in HELMET and BATTLES.
‘Chew’ is fairly straightforward when compared to most of what’s come before, but driving in its urgency, and ‘Ballast’ hastens Congratulations to a close after less than 30 minutes have passed, but trust my sweat-drenched soul and body, that’s about as much physically immersive punishment as anyone’s going to be able to withstand. Now, to get these Danes stateside to see them strip away some preconceived notions of what’s truly “hardcore”.
Review by: Lord Randall
EYES
Congratulations
Indisciplinarian
3.5 / 6