One of the main things that made The Dillinger Escape Plan such an appealing band was their frontman. Greg Puciato was not only a man with a unique voice and a knack for grinding finding melody in even the most unhinged musical backdrops, but he had the look and presence of a man who’d break both of your arms for looking at him the wrong way. That aura he possessed gave the furious onslaught of mathcore an edge, a power that few others could even hope of possessing. One of those few are BEAR. The Belgian mathy hardcore lads have been plugging away to forge a fearsome reputation for themselves for over a decade now. With their blend of spite filled, grinding technical post-hardcore combined with a powerhouse, the scene is set for the band to make that step up. Now, there’s certainly no shortage of bands with this sonic profile about today, but it’s Maarten Albrechts who helps the band dig their own groove.
Vanta is the name of their new record. To give you an idea of what it may sound like, their guitarist James Falck described it as an album that examined the horror of mundanity, seeing friends hanging up instruments and even what might make a man consider murder. A light-hearted record this ain’t. Falck himself, not long after joining the band and being part of their last album, Propaganda, found himself battling cancer. Thankfully, he managed to pull through, and plays like a man possessed on this record, but just as his recovery was gaining a foothold, the pandemic struck, and the band found themselves stuck. All of that pain, that anguish, that isolation has been channelled into Vanta and it’s palpable.
Opener ‘Atone’ wastes no time in barrelling into your ears. Frantic, urgent drumming combines with riffing akin to a swarm of wasps to overwhelm you initially. Despite a sound that may make you step back in fear, there’s some clean vocals in here and Maarten has fantastic enunciation in his delivery. Every single note seems to be expertly placed and the mix of genres in drumming and guitars never once feel forced. The blend of Norma Jean style arrhythmic brutality and oddly catchy hooks is a recurring theme on the record, along with an underlying feeling of danger. ‘Defeatist’ opens with some pit inducing bass and drumming that will make you instinctively brace yourself for impact and it shows that the band are fully aware of their ability to get pits opening up, and seem to revel in it.
The title track is one of the album’s many soaring highlights, leading off with some oddly creepy vocals before simply descending into a riff maelstrom. You’ll be banging your head at first but might find your neck in a million pieces by the end. ‘ArmMe’ features a lovely break in sound that gives way to a chorus that frankly has no place being on an album this heavy. ‘Repose Beyond Fate’ goes very latter day Dillinger Escape Plan, mixing wild stomps with some post-hardcore inspired cleans and melodies, but when the saxophone kicks in it works brilliantly, adding an almost soulful tinge to the barrage. Undoubtedly the most accomplished and masterful track on the record, it’s one of the most fun satisfying extreme music tracks of the year. This is a band confident in their sound, in their creative choices. ‘Earthgrinder’ is as heavy as the name suggests, with a titanic stomp giving way to some machine gun drums before a deranged crescendo of a finale that would be a lighters in the air moment if not for the desire to destroy everything around you.
At points, this sounds like the next step that Dillinger would have taken in their sound. It’s a lumbering, brooding mix of beauty and danger like the band’s namesake. Many have tried and many have failed in their attempts to emulate the blend of brutality, unpredictability and at times, vulnerability of their brethren, and yet BEAR seem to be one of the few who even understand it. Acknowledging there’s more to this kind of music than brain pulverising widdly riffs and atonal barks, tracks like the penultimate ‘Serpents’ possess an almost Faith No More style of swagger, with some downtuned riffs and Maarten doing his best Mike Patton impression. In terms of a sonic evolution, it does seem like the band are refining their sound rather than redefining it, which is good news for longtime fans. As ‘Andram’, the final track squeals and slams it’s way into your ears, with it’s almost anthemic, call to arms parts and oddly downtrodden guitar mini solo, you’re left feeling like you’ve just gone ten rounds with a large, hairy animal.
It isn’t a perfect listen, as at times the heavy parts of tracks can blend together into a spiky, violent blob and if we’re being critical, at times Maarten does sound like he’s trying to be Greg Puciato a bit too much, but his hooks and melodies are catchy in their own right. If you’re going to emulate somebody though, the muscular mathcore madman isn’t a bad choice. The electronic interlude, ‘Cells’, doesn’t really add much either, other than a chance to catch your breath. A few years ago, it would be unthought of for mathcore to ever enter a true metal mainstream conversation again. However, with bands like The Callous Daoboys (the sarcastic, emo tinged yin to BEAR‘s tenacious, incendiary yang) making it not only high quality, but relevant, BEAR have the chance to not only gain a foothold, but to press on and be standard bearers. An utterly furious, scathing, oddly hummable record that can only really be summed up in two words. Violently beautiful.