Erosion Leave The Listener Spinning Via Blisteringly Furious Debut ‘Maximum Suffering’

Erosion deliver an industrialized cacophony of mayhem on their debut full length Maximum Suffering, out this week via Hydra Head. The fury packed into the release rockets at the listener from all sides, disturbing those who wish to float by unaffected and kicking their energy into high gear. The heavy hardcore outfit features a few of the prominent noise rockers in Baptists and sports the vocal work of Jamie Hooper, who’s performed with 3 Inches of Blood and Congress. (Guitarist Rick O’Dell from Tobeatic and Hard Feelings also adds his talents to the mix.)

There’s an inescapable, crushing sense to the combination of these various threads of artistry. There’s no apparent concern about accessibility, or blunting the “message,” or polishing the presentation. Surprising as it may be to the unfamiliar, those aspects to musical artistry do make plenty of appearances in the hardcore world — but here, they’re dead and buried.

The band sounds raw, like their music — to use an admittedly morbid metaphor — spouts from a deep wound in humanity’s back that’s scarred over multiple times but kept getting ripped open. Maximum Suffering packs the music of our very human metaphysical — and physical, for that matter — rage. Look around — how much worse can it get? In some senses, we’ve reached the maximum deliverable punch to our fellow humans — we just keep redefining maximum as time goes on and discovering new ways to hurt.

Erosion’s music lays these wounds bare, shining a bright, blinding light on the rage sitting inside of us. There’s a usefulness in confrontation, and the band seems aware of that, completely willing and ready to rush right on ahead, no matter the cost, and perhaps even unafraid of the consequences. There’s some kind of twisted but human thrill resting at the core of their music, reflecting the innate determination to go on — the survival instinct.

Getting to this point of reflection of our deepest urges and drives, the band employs a curious blend of musical methods. They feel, at east in spirit, like they’ve combined the deep darkness of sludge and maybe even doom with the speed and outwardly spinning ferocity of punk. To be clear, Erosion does not sound like a genre-based band tied to either style — they’re something more. In the midst of the noise, they clearly know exactly what they’re doing.

5/5 Stars

Photo via Taylor Ferguson

Listen to some of the band’s previous output below, via Bandcamp.