The Sunshine State has thrown out more death metal bands than this music junkie can name but Arms may be the state's first purveyors of really great, mayhem inducing mathcore. There's no premade mix for the musical riptide that is their brand new record BLACKOUT. Nah, this is a real Frankensteiner of a record. Get a hardcore kid in the ring with an industrial drum machine, some Dillinger Escape Plan guitar tricks and have the triple threat match blessed by the guys from oft-forgotten metalcore stalwarts Zao. Enjoy the bout and when the three count hits, we're the real winner.
There are very few one man projects that work as well as this, especially one as musically dense as this; Paul Hundeby has conquered the space between hardcore, grind and mathcore. Sometimes sounding as lifted and airy as Exotic Animal Petting Zoo, the oxygen quickly sours and blasts into barrage after barrage of angular guitars and pained, rasping vocals. It's a lot to take in at points, especially on "Deer Slayer" with it's hypnotic synths stabbing in and out of dual panned guitar tracks. Disgusting bass strings and dissonant guitars just about hold everything together temporarily but the most fun had listening to Arms is when everything rips apart. "Psalms Muted" and the title track just about burst out of the confines of sound, something which listeners of The Armed and their nuts take on hardcore music will appreciate.
BLACKOUT is available on Arms' Bandcamp for the measly price of one US dollar. Enjoy the mayhem for the same price as a… thing which costs one US dollar, I guess.
