In what seems to be the year of the sophomore releases for new bands in the scene, Knoll has come stomping back with their second full-length, Metempiric (Self-Released). Somewhere between grindcore and horror movies is where this record will be classified years from now. The use of shrieking vocals, traditional grindcore instrumentals, and uncomfortable brass sections (oh yeah, there are trumpets!) peppered in really make this album a formidable contender for end-of-year discussions, but is just uncomfortable overall, which is a commendation that is not handed out often.

‘Throe Of Upheaval’ is the first track where the brass is noticed in the intro of the song. A few “WTFs” may be muttered but then familiar Knoll grind kicks in at blazing speed. The trumpets come back in about halfway through, flying aimlessly in the background just to keep that uneasy feeling going in the listener’s gut. ‘Of Troth To Atom’ is another stand out track that doubles down on the odd, uncomfortable emotions felt previously. The tempo switches between break-neck speed and caveman a few times and the guitar riffs mimic that of the earlier trumpet sections. ‘Whelm’ hits like a ton of bricks towards the end of Metempiric with tempos that elephants could march across the Sahara to. There is no brass heard in this track at all but this was meant as a pulverizing statement, which is a different level of being uncomfortable.

I will admit, at first glance, having three guitarists for a grindcore band seemed like overkill and I am so glad I was wrong as this record will be on repeat for a while. With only two full lengths under their collective belts at the moment, Knoll has quickly become quite the talk in the grindcore world.  It certainly helps when they drop absolute scorcher soundtracks of the apocalypse and entitle it Metempiric.

Buy the album here: https://linktr.ee/knollgrind

9 / 10

TIM LEDIN