It’s Monday and Mondays suck, so let’s grind it out with Fluroide’s Disentanglement.
It’s June and that means heat is coming or is already where you are. Those of us in the Pacific Northwest are starting to feel it roll in, though if you’re on a coast, it’s pretty mild compared to inland and the humidity nightmare that becomes. And that’s really for a huge chunk of the U.S. But what better way to bring on the heat and ring in the summer than with a little seasonal destruction? Something to…maybe disentangle one from Spring. And perhaps a little dose of Fluoride is what one needs.
Disentanglement is the debut of powerviolence/grind merchants Fluoride. For those that follow this column, you might remember me covering their demo back in 2017. And in that article, I mentioned to be on the lookout for this band as their demo was some stern stuff. And make no mistake, the New Jersey grinders have delivered on all fronts.
The Fluoride demo was just a taste of things to come. As Disentanglement opens with a barrage of feedback and noise via “Degrade.” The track lures one into a false sense of security once the noise cuts out. It becomes melodic and moves a little slower. But the blasts are only a little way away. Once the track starts pumping out the punishment, it’s relentless. Grind with that glorious hardcore/punk attitude. And it flows seamlessly into “Alienate”, a track much heavier on punishment and the powerviolence front.
Something to note is that Fluoride has become stronger songwriters since their self-titled debut. The blasts are tighter, the violence is harsher, there’s more noise, but the attitude to play to destroy remains the same. The recording quality is greatly improved, though some people might complain about that. The record will still rip your hair out at the root. But Disentanglement is a complete beast. Tracks like “Still Time” and “Black Ash” grind so hard it’s almost inhuman. Pure, vicious violence that break up plenty and keeps the track interesting.
Other tracks like “Unconditional” hint towards the band dabbling in tech in the future, and maybe much longer stretches of melody. Fuck the Facts comes to mind when spinning Disentanglement. Fluoride could definitely pull off seven-plus minutes of grind and make it every bit as seething as tracks that clock in at 40 seconds.
All in all, Disentanglement is something that should be in your catalog. Fluoride are growing big time as artists and their next album will probably unsurprisingly be a huge step up from this. For the time being, they’ve set a very, very high bar for themselves. Disentanglement is one of the most unforgiving grind/powerviolence records so far this year. Get grinding on this inferno.
Fluoride Facebook
Nerve Altar Vinyl
React With Protest Vinyl
To Live A Lie Cassette
