“candiria”
Candiria
The Process of Self-Development
MIA
Bands and fans alike, metal-core proponents are a latently abusive crowd. Ever since the introduction of the chugga-chugga guitar riff to hardcore, the beyond-saturated genre has become some of the most aggressively inane music unleashed on man’s already-wounded psyche. Granted, a handful of bands – Today is the Day, Converge, Rorschach, Integrity, and Cable – have been able to pull off oft-compelling art (yes, art ), but the vast majority of metal-core mongers wallow in browbeating self-importance.
But if there ever was a chance to take a walk on the ribald side, Candiria’s The Process of Self-Development provides ample opportunity. What sets the Brooklyn quintet apart from its less-urban contemporaries is that it knows its macho-warfare absolutely hurts – and it matters not whether you’re acclimated to such fare. Rather convincingly, vocalist Carley Coma wretches like a troll choking on rusty vomit, while his bandmates nearly match that pain with submerged sonic-squalor looped endlessly. In the wake of Today is the Day’s trend-setting complexity, it’s mildly refreshing to see Candiria intentionally (read: intentionally ) grate and, for the most part, succeed. But when all is screamed and done, few mortals possess the fortitude to weather The Process of Self-Development ‘s 68 minutes – then again, I haven’t been to hell…yet.
MIA Records, P.O. Box 1236, Canal Street Station, New York, NY 10013; http://www.mia-records.com
