King Yosef has always leaned into the more abrasive end of their music, and Spire of Fear (Bleak House Records) has pushed it even further into that direction with an increasingly confrontational aggression. Sonically harrowing with the genre-defining mechanical stomp. That is not to say the entire album just grinds with a robotic pulse, as there are moments like “Glimmer” to provide a more melodic contrast. It’s a darker song with a very reverb-drenched mix that sets the vocals at the end of a dark tunnel. It tapestry of cool sounds that don’t hook into years but serves stark monument of sound.

Rather than groove the driving beat of “Vi Coactus” moves more like a hard-core band might when it stomps into motion. “Lichen” finds things ebbing back down into distant, sung vocals haunting the background, before a more crunching guitar roars back at you. They eventually find a groove midway into the song, creating one of the album’s most powerful moments. When they do find a groove midway into the song, it’s effective and the most powerful moment so far. “Doomtown” goes spastic when you think it is going to lock into a groove more like the previous song. The extremes the songs are pushed wrestle with the finer points of conventional songwriting in their urge to crumble into noise.

“Wither” starts with a more ambient tone, but by now the listener might have adapted to the formula and find themselves waiting for things to explode. Their instincts would be correct, for it does, and by the end of the song, things lock into a more purposeful crunch. “Blue Morning” is atmospheric in its pulse, with the vocals giving a ghostly croon, before the guitars creep in, offering their most accessible moment so far.”Walter” floats along with a lo-fi haze with Stone Roses-like vocals hovering around the woozy shoegaze vibe the song flows with. Of course, staying true to the formula, it does explode, but waits longer to do so.

The title track roars with a more abrasive venom than most. The song lashes out in its abstract form of the song, lingering between outbursts. “Everything’s Point of Origin” has a more traditional industrial feel thanks to the groove of the bass line. They are halfway through the song before the vocals come in. For an album that will be marketed as unconventional, it certainly finds its formula. It often places the intense sounds painting this sonic canvas ahead of hooky songwriting, but this is done in an artfully Punk manner. This might not be music to dance to, but it is effective a creating an introspective mood that is an effective soundtrack for the end of the world, as Industrial Music should. If you find Ministry too dancey and need something more rooted in experimental hardcore, this album is for you.

Buy the album here:
https://www.kingyosef.com/merch

8 / 10
WIL CIFER
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