You never know how Nu-Metal is going to resurface. Your best bet is that it won’t show up to the party in Adidas with b-boy swagger. Knives prove this on their album Glitter (Marshall Records). Just when you thought Bristol was just the home of trip-hop, these kids who self-identify as a noise-rock band, kick in the door with punchy rapped vocals, they slam again an often dissonant eruption of angular riffs. Somehow this all manages to for my mishappen groove.  of guitar clanging in a misshapen groove. “I Hope You Get It” finds a hint of hard-core haunting their musical DNA, which is nothing new for nu-metal, as Korn and Deftones toured with the likes of Biohazard, Sick of it All, Glassjaw, and Thrice, in their early days.  

Rather than gang vocals, the layers of additional vocals layered onto a song like “Eat Thy Neighbor, carry more of a cheerleader’s chant. Several members of the band continue to lend their voices in sparse doses to songs throughout the album rather than rest the sole weight of the narrative on the rapped vocals that are center stage. There is a slight Idles vibe amid the chaos that unfolds to a greater extent. “PHD.” They hammer you pretty hard in places before throwing a bouncing breakdown at you. It’s this bounce that aligns them closer to JNCO wearers of the late nineties than noise rock or punk bands. 

“Public Juice” finds its angular grooves growing more frantic. Even in its most aggressive places, the fact that they are not tuned down to B and have a raw, honest mix, rather than a boomy Ross Robison one, plays to their favor and sets them apart as their entity. They have a great many sounds layered into these songs. They do not play against the hook of songs like “Post Macho” has more hook and groove to it, that is their strength, even in the face of some of the more abrasive aspects. “ULTRAVIOLET'” finds a more kinetic guitar riff jerking you around. You Think You Know” is more urgent in its uptempo drive. 

The last track is more of a moody, melodic jam-outro than a song, since it does not have a story to tell lyrically or compositionally. These kids are fairly original despite bringing a familiarity in the sonic colors, the work with it is more about how they arrange the pieces. Fans of bands ranging from At the Drive-in to Hed P.E. will find something to embrace in the sonic party they are throwing here. 

Buy the album here:
https://knivesband.lnk.to/GLITTER

8 / 10
WIL CIFER
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