KUNVUK: CONSUME RAPTURE

Kunvuk is an Australian act that has been garnering a decent amount of attention for their schizophrenic approach to heavy music. The comparison they often get is System of A Down. Though it’s fitting for a band that indulges in word salad verses, staccato guitar melodies and semi-spoken passages that reflect on human depravity, there’s more to their sound. That is, there is much less blatant radio appeal than is found with SOAD. Listeners will quickly notice that there are far too many amorphous drifting sections for this to be the associated with the more commercial, albeit similarly eccentric, endeavors of Serj Tankian and crew. Instead, this jacked-up beast that the band calls Consume Rapture has more in common with the doom, drone, noise, sludge and experimental acts that now inhabit the trendiest label rosters.

“Do you reckon the revolution has teeth?” or so utters vocalist David Hart, just before diving into a jagged, headbang-worthy assault. The song, “Teeth Swallower”, marks the spot where Consume Rapture really picks up momentum. The next few tracks are by and large a mix of pounding, disjointed riffs, the yelling of crazy person, and other semi-spoken lyrics. Oddly, the spoken word delivery turns some segments into almost a poetry reading but there is no shortage of weighty aggression. ”Consume” even has enough rolling double bass and distant screams to where you could say it takes an extreme metal turn. About midway through, the jazzy drumming of “Rapture pt 2″ serves as a nice backdrop for the aformentioned poetry slam vibe to get back into the mix. Then, in satisfying fashion, ”Become Monster” takes things into the album’s heaviest territory. While Kunvuk does not lack for originality or heaviness, some of the lulls and long ringing notes do slow things down a little too much for your humble reviewer. Don’t get me wrong, the spoken parts of “Rapture pt 2″ and especially ”Nights (Prelude to Empty)” add a lot of depth to the album and enhance the importance of lyrics, a medium far too often marginalized as just an aside in heavy music. It’s simply that the more straightforward tracks might stand out more if the subdued eclecticism (which this band seems rightfully known for) was more or less confied to the interludes. Kunvuk is smuch more than their one, tired comparison. In the paranoid songs of Consume Rapture, you’ll find the input of everything from doom metal to Meshuggah and a result that can’t be mistaken for anything other band.

7/10