Beginning with the dark and crushing 'Monolith', the EP immediately tries to beat the listener into submission via distorted synths, downtuned guitars and double kick drums. There are no melodic vocals on this release - the closest we get are hardcore shouts - and while frontman Kenta Koie is hardly unique in his delivery, he performs with enough conviction that it doesn't matter. The EP then surges through the machine-gun rave assault of 'Photosphere', slowing down again for the lady's drink 'Jagerbomb'. Hey, we all know real men swig Jager from the fucking bottle.
Both 'Jagerbomb' and 'Quasar' feature some pretty hefty breakdowns, which would leave the EP feeling somewhat generic if not for the synths, which feature as the sole instrument in 'Dialogue'. They work extremely well with the music - somewhat like a really heavy Enter Shikari / Silent Descent lovechild - in 95% of the music. The only time they slip up is during closer 'Leviathan' where the sample of steel drums feels extremely out of place.
As a rule though, the songs are well composed and to the point (the EP clocks in at just over 20 minutes) so it's a mile-a-minute adrenaline rush. Hardened tech-death-grind fuckers will probably hate this, and in honesty with the current glut of 'synth-core' bands, it's not the most original music you'll hear this year.
Then again when music is this fun and energetic, you just don't fucking care.
8/10
