It’s only a few months since Australia’s Idylls released their savagely dissonant LP “Farewell All Joy”, a 21 minute cluster of belligerent and unrelenting mathcore that’s sure to be on the tips of our tongues come year end. Not ones to rest on their laurels, the band have quickly followed it up with this split with fellow countrymen, Melbourne’s Palisades. Each serve up two new songs each, followed by each band covering a tune of the other’s.
Taking their early Converge and Botch-indebted hardcore assault into some interesting new terrain, Idylls’ new offerings tread two different walkways. “Born Anxious” is 54 seconds long, so there are no surprises there. The band has a penchant for keeping their meandering, discordant hails of aggression and hostility to short, concise running times, much like “Farewell All Joy”. This opening tune continues that trajectory with an ear grating guitar tone and agonising shrieks and bellows. What comes next pulls Idylls into some new realms, hinted at by the mellow album closer found on “Farewell All Joy”. Their second offering is the 14 minute “Piss in the Ocean”. In the opening seconds, it lures you into thinking the band are on course for another mathy-laden journey until the song lulls into creeping slow passages characterised by buzzing guitar wails on a bed of rumbling bass guitar. The whirring discordance continues hypnotically, eventually interrupted by moody, almost spoken, vocals. At this point, the song is meandering aimlessly and you’re really not too sure what Idylls are trying to accomplish with this foray.
This is quickly combated by their cover of Palisades’ “A Wonderful Summer…” from their 2011 demo. First off, they’ve completely changed… everything. What was once a pained almost-screamo pseudo-ballad is now a blazing assault with buzzsaw guitars slicing past unremitting drums blasting away nonstop. It’s actually the highlight of this split and then some.
Palisades on the other hand are playing their swansong, with this release to be their final outing before calling it a day, despite only existing as a band for just over a year. Much more on the ebullient and melodic end of the scale, the band serve up some solid songs to go out on. “Luckie Street” has got a rich guitar tone and the screaming vocals ooze impassioned drive, meanwhile, “Unfriendly and Unapologetic” sees some lush clean vocals come the fore only to unabashedly crawl back into familiar melodic hardcore territory.
To close, Palisades give us their cover of Idylls’ demo track “Tooth & Claw”, from the “Amps for God/Plague Hell” EP, and had you not known, you could easily take it for one of their own tracks. Both bands have certainly made each of the covers their own. For Palisades, it’s fare thee well. For Idylls, it’s probably the start of a new chapter. Let’s see where they go.
Stream the split below.
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