Calques – Civilizing

Band – Calques

Album – Civilizing

Country of Origin – USA

Genre – Black Metal/Hardcore Punk/Industrial Noise

Release Date – October 13th, 2017

Label – Sentient Ruin Laboratories

Author – Hayduke X

What do you get when you mix together equal parts abrasive noise, raw black metal, old school hardcore punk, insanity, and belligerence? The correct answer is Calques, or at the very least, Civilizing, the latest release by said project. This is one of those releases that I’m finding very hard to describe. There are no easy comparisons. The album is aggressively brutal in a way that gives the listener whiplash. Neck braces all around for months on end. Repeat listens lead to physical therapy and long stays in asylums.

So, who or what is/are Calques? Well, I can tell you they are a duo from Montgomery, Alabama. Beyond that, I don’t know. There is percussion. Whether sampled or live, I don’t know. There are guitars, possibly bass. There is noise galore. Vocals are harsh. They make my throat feel raw just listening. Whatever else they are, the duo take extreme sounds, turn them this way and that, make them rend and shred and tear, and yet make you obsessed with it.

Civilizing is the nihilistic revelation of an apocalyptic vision. Civilizing is the soundtrack to the slow, but inevitable decay of humanity, reveling in the prospect of this demise. Civilizing is a cult preaching deliverance from hope.

Recommendation:  Ask yourself if you like any of these: the body, Gnaw Their Tongues, Sutekh Hexen. If you can answer yes, then buy this.

Rating:  4/5