Bathe In The Caustic Storm Of Oxx’s Brand New Utterly Insane Avant-garde Hardcore

There’s not any clear way to overstate how off-the-walls insane the new record from Denmark’s avant-garde hardcore crew Oxx really is. Called The Skeleton Is Just A Coat Hanger; These Are The Black Strings That Make You Dance, the seven tracks of compact, suffocating music chart a course of absolute sonic destruction that remarkably enough, doesn’t end there. The musicians behind this project clearly have a great understanding of charting musical fascination in the midst of the mayhem. They’ve made destruction into something fascinating, fun, and even invigoratingly empowering. The new Oxx record isn’t just about “destruction” or suggestive enough to make you think about destruction — you feel this maniacally intense music rattling (fittingly enough) through your bones the minute you turn it on and the band start careening wildly back and forth through their strikingly unique fits of musical rage.

They don’t just stick to anything near the familiar formula of riffs and breakdowns and more riffs that one might expect from a “hardcore band.” Instead, the latest music from Oxx veers back and forth between extremes and then finds some more to exploit, charting what’s more like a dementedly twisted ride through a (metaphorical) jungle than anything else. You’d be damn pressed to find your way back to any kind of civilization with ease after making your way through this musical thrillride. There are even some parts on this record that have an almost “jazzy” feel, while again, never letting up with the utterly visceral intensity.

Even if not explicitly, the album seems to be asking listeners to think outside the box — however they’d like to define the “box” of that exhortation. This music feels well-suited to inject in your ears when contemplating a next step in this corporate hellscape we call modern “society” — and this isn’t just white person, first world rambling. Look around at the real, tangible destruction enacted against people like the immigrant community of El Paso and the many others whose deaths and injuries might never make global or national news. With this album, there’s not just a rage that in a huff is done — there’s a deeply set, constructive emotional and musical resonance embedded in this destruction that could easily stick with you. There’s a higher up call for individuality, enforced with a musical steamroller — and it’s hard as hell to not excitedly get behind that full force.

5/5 Stars

Check out some of the music below. It’ll be available to stream in full on August 16 via Nefarious Industries