Scientists generally agree that the Big Bang, which occurred roughly 13.7 billion years ago, kick-started the creation of the universe as we know it today. Well, now we also know what the Big Bang sounded like.
Though shorter than an episode of The Office, Simulations Of Hell (DAZE Records) has enough content and staying power to be a feature film. In other words, Serration needed a hair over thirteen minutes to devise a hectic hell-ride of mind-altering proportions. We’re talking about the first moments of the Battle of Verdun.
And more than simply eight songs of enormous heft, the Canadian collective bookend their release with the sound of a cassette being inserted and then ending with the cassette’s ejection.
The ultra-heavy hardcore bombardment commences in the form of “Boreal Serpent”, a track that starts off with skyscrapers acting as bowling pins for a planet-sized bowling ball. “Shroud Of Gnarled Tongues” is contemporary post-metalcore bathed in volcanic cyanide. The drums featured on “Altar Of Guilt” are frantic and further emboldened by fight-or-flight guitars.
Expanding their repertoire, Serration include somber, grounding piano (“The Shapes Of Humans And Hearts”) and a guest spot from Dying Wish vocalist Emma Boster (we wish Emma a speedy recovery from her recent accident!). The latter song, “A Suicide Note In Midi Format”, is brilliantly juxtaposed by Boster’s emotive, splendid, simply spellbinding voice.
That said, it’s the title and closing track that leaves the strongest impression interjected with constrictive string bursts, adding a quicksand-like death grip. Unsettling and disjointed glitching and buffering precede the tape being removed, thus putting a caldera on a sub-fifteen-minute interpretation of Krakatoa.
In conclusion, I’m not saying Simulations Of Hell is the heaviest record that has ever been produced. However, we might need to wait another 13.7 billion years to find out.
Buy the album here:
9 / 10
MATT COOK