Scientist, not to be confused with the Jamaican dub legend who did an entire album about Pac-Man in the early 80's, is essentially one of those never-ending series of cross-pollinated collaborations that never seem to cease coming out of the Chicago post-metal scene. In this case we're talking Eric Plonka from
In this case we're talking Eric Plonka from Yakuza backed by members of Taken by the Sun and Making Ghosts, with guest vocal appearances by members of The Atlas Moth, Pale Horseman, and more. I suppose it goes without saying that the whole thing is engineered by Sanford Parker? Yet, while there is often a "been there, done that" quality to the incestuous clutch of Chi-town musicians flitting in and out of each other's rehearsal spaces,
Yet, while there is often a "been there, done that" quality to the incestuous clutch of Chi-town musicians flitting in and out of each other's rehearsal spaces, Scientist eschew the expected post-metal template for more of an experimental hardcore laced with sludge and faint traces of industrial. It's not a million miles from the type of stuff Southern Lord is putting out these days, but it walks a fine enough line between open sourced collaboration and "too many cooks" that it squeaked into my year end best of list juuuuuust under the deadline.
There's not a lot of quality material coming out this time of year so don't fuck around and sleep on this. We're serving it to you on a goddamn silver platter, for Pete's sake.