Dive into the world of Mat “Captain Kvohst” McNerney and his new (apocalyptic post-) punk band Beastmilk, and you will be blinded by the light of a nuclear dawn. By the unbearable view of the end of all things. If the apocalypse were in sight and the decision would be to party it up and embrace the shockwave and nuclear fallout with open arms instead of ending our existence in despair, well, Beastmilk’s music would be the soundtrack to that moment. Not many people may know this but Kvohst is the charismatic frontman/guitarist/singer of Finnish post-psychedelic folk prodigy Hexvessel, and the dude has an extremely interesting past, having been in bands – even extreme metal ones for the most part – such as Decrepit Spectre, Gangrenator, The Tragedians, Vomitorium, Code, Dødheimsgard, Israthoum, and Void, a background which makes diving into this punk affair of his even more interesting and intriguing. Beastmilk is Kvohst’s first proper punk band, and oh my what a punk band it is. The music of Beastmilk, just at is for Hexvessel, not only overflows with mermorable riffs and stellar songwriting but it also litteraly glides over Kvhost’s incredible vocal delivery, making it a totally unique affair which sets it completely apart from what we normally see in the realm of punk rock these days.
“Use Your Deluge” is the band’s second EP (the first one being the equally staggering “White Stains On Black Tape” from back in 2010) and was released earlier this year by dreamy finnish experimental metal label Svart Records, the home of Hexvessel as well. These four songs contained herein literally overboil with depth and passion. While the guitars are crunchy, dissonant and painfully dark they also convey a staggering sense of melody and beauty akin to how only Killing Joke’s Geordie pulls it off. The rhythm section is thundering and tight as fuck, but while being bombastic and driving it never fails to maintain a beautiful sense of discipline and grace throughout which gives the whole thing an almost regal feel. On top of everything are Kvohst’s towering vocals which weave their way through the music like some sort of emotional overflow of sorts, like a magical wind that blows life into the music as it passes through it in an almost indescribable way. While the moods and general feel of the music remain dark as fuck and completely damned, this is punk rock that glitters and shines with the light of insanely beautiful melodies and which has a very slanted and ambiguous melodic feel to it throughout. Joy Division, Cocteau Twins, Fields Of The Nephilim, Killing Joke, Bauhaus and even bands like The Cameleons, Gang Og Four and The Smiths are all equally evoked in this music in an almost magical and mystical way, and while you will definitely notice the immense heritage this band brought back to life you will also notice that they also completely have their own thing going on and sound like no other. The band just wrapped up recording a debut full length album at Godcity Studios with Converge’s Kurt Ballou, so expect great things coming your way soon from this absolute gem of a band.
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