{"id":77433,"date":"2018-03-05T13:00:47","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T19:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toiletovhell.com\/?p=77433"},"modified":"2018-03-05T12:15:10","modified_gmt":"2018-03-05T18:15:10","slug":"reviewed-erdve-vaitojimas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/reviewed-erdve-vaitojimas\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviewed: Erdve – Vaitojimas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cThe universe is a dark place. I\u2019m trying to make it brighter before I die.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

– Thane Krios, <\/span>Mass Effect 2<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

– Erdve<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Post-hardcore seems to be in vogue, and Erdve<\/strong> are here to capitalize on it. Or to try to. A four-piece hailing from Lithuania and pitching themselves as \u201cnegative hardcore,\u201d Erdve delivers on that slogan: over <\/span>Vaitojimas<\/span><\/i>\u2019 six tracks and thirty-seven minute runtime, they build an atmosphere as inspiring and cheery as Soviet architecture. Harsh, bleak, and residing in a nauseous middle ground between despairing and resentful. It\u2019s the aural equivalent of sitting hung over on a cloudy day in a parking lot filled with broken asphalt and used needles. Sounds promising, yeah? The issue is whether such a single-minded approach as Erdve shows is ultimately effective. Short answer: not as much as was hoped.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dissonance and mid-paced chugs are the name of the game here, with hefty doses of sludge influence making themselves apparent throughout. Erdve have clearly listened carefully to <\/span>Celeste<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Indian<\/span><\/a>, to name but two, attempting to fuse the suffocating aural assault of the latter with the more easily discernible rhythmic motifs of the former. Without doubt, they succeed admirably on the Indian front, ironically because their emulation of Celeste doesn\u2019t quite work; Erdve\u2019s rhythmic work is more uniform, the transitions less expressive, the overall tone as flatly insistent as a hammer on an anvil. The mix functions similarly: while it is clear and the vocals are well placed, neither too far back nor too forward, it\u2019s a bit too loud and too flat. With everything pushed to the forefront and nothing behind it to engage the listener, one\u2019s attention threatens to wane.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their work is not without its strengths. Sludgy post-hardcore is, in the abstract and sometimes in practice, a tantalizing notion- capitalizing on sludge\u2019s inherent ugliness while relying on hardcore sensibilities to keep it lean and mean. At its best, <\/span>Vaitojimas<\/span><\/i> nods back to 2014, what has been referred to as The Year of Hideous Sludge, in which we were graced with <\/span>Lord Mantis\u2019 <\/span>Death Mask<\/span><\/i><\/a> and <\/span>Coffinworm\u2019s <\/span>IV.I.VIII<\/span><\/i><\/a>, among others. It\u2019s not as deliberate as either of the aforementioned and lacks their nuance and depth, but when it needs to beat you over the head it can do so with the best of them. Its penchant for sonic abuse well in hand, all that would seemingly remain is for Erdve to know what purpose that abuse should serve- to wit, how to make themselves interesting as well as punishing.<\/span><\/p>\n